Generating a crew brief and safe work plan
A crew brief is a site-specific safety document that your painters read (and sign) before starting work. Depending on your locale, it's called a Safe Work Method Statement (AU SWMS), Job Hazard Analysis (US and CA JHA), Risk Assessment & Method Statement (UK RAMS), or Site-Specific Safety Plan (NZ SSSP). Same document, different names.
How it's generated
From the project hub, tap Generate crew brief. Surfacely pulls:
- The hazards you captured during area assessments
- Access methods (scaffold, EWP, ladder) from your hire + assessment data
- Auto-derived hazards the painter didn't tag — spray inhalation, working at height, lead paint (by locale year), asbestos, silica dust, etc.
- A 5×5 risk matrix per hazard
- The locale-appropriate template wording for your country
Editing the brief
The generated brief opens in an editor. You can:
- Add site-specific rules (parking, access hours, emergency meeting point)
- Adjust the auto-derived hazards
- Add controls for anything flagged
- Choose the on-site emergency contact number (tel-linked for the crew)
Colours
Colours are set on the crew brief, because they're rarely agreed before a job is won. The Colours step lists every surface on the job. Pick a brand and type the colour name, use Apply to all for one brand across the job, or copy a colour to every matching surface. Leave any that aren't decided yet.
If some surfaces have no colour when you go to share the brief, Surfacely asks once. You can add them, or send it anyway and fill them in later: the crew's link always shows the latest.
PDF + portal
The brief generates as a PDF with QR code. Share it with the crew via email, or print it for site display. Mint a sign-off portal link and the crew can sign digitally from their phones — each signature captured with timestamp and IP.
Why it matters: in most markets a signed SWMS/JHA/RAMS is a legal requirement before work starts. Generating one by hand takes 30–60 minutes per job. Surfacely does it in 30 seconds and ensures you never go on site without one.
Tip: regenerating the brief after a scope change doesn't destroy the old one — it's marked superseded but kept in history. Signatures on the old version stay where they are; the new version starts fresh. A link or QR code you've already shared keeps working and opens the new version.