SWMS requirements for high risk construction work

When a SWMS is required

Under the model WHS Regulations, a business carrying out high risk construction work must prepare a SWMS, or make sure one is prepared, before the work starts. The trigger is the work, not the size of the project: a small renovation with a risk of a fall over 2 metres needs one as much as a high-rise does.

The SWMS is prepared in consultation with the workers who will do the job, and the work must then be done the way the SWMS says. If it is not being followed, the work stops until it is, or until the SWMS is revised.

The 18 categories of high risk construction work

Regulation 291 of the model WHS Regulations defines high risk construction work as construction work that:

• involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres
• is carried out on a telecommunication tower
• involves demolishing a load-bearing element of a structure, or one related to its physical integrity
• involves, or is likely to involve, disturbing asbestos
• involves structural alterations or repairs that need temporary support to prevent collapse
• is carried out in or near a confined space
• is carried out in or near a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 metres, or a tunnel
• involves the use of explosives
• is carried out on or near pressurised gas distribution mains or piping
• is carried out on or near chemical, fuel or refrigerant lines
• is carried out on or near energised electrical installations or services
• is carried out in an area that may have a contaminated or flammable atmosphere
• involves tilt-up or precast concrete
• is carried out on, in or next to a road, railway, shipping lane or other traffic corridor in use by traffic other than pedestrians
• is carried out in an area where powered mobile plant is moving
• is carried out in an area with artificial extremes of temperature
• is carried out in or near water or other liquid that involves a risk of drowning
• involves diving work

What a SWMS must contain

The regulations ask for four things, set out so the people doing the work can read and understand them:

• the high risk construction work the SWMS covers
• the hazards of that work and the risks to health and safety
• the measures that will control those risks
• how the control measures will be put in place, monitored and reviewed

Reviewing a subcontractor's SWMS

On a construction project, the principal contractor must take all reasonable steps to get a SWMS before high risk construction work starts. Getting one is not the same as reading one. A useful review checks that:

• it is written for this site and this task, not a generic template
• it names the categories of high risk construction work involved
• the controls follow the hierarchy of control, with PPE as the last line
• the plant, licences and permits it relies on match what will be on site
• the workers doing the job have been consulted and have signed on

Keeping it current

A SWMS is reviewed and revised whenever the control measures change, and kept until the high risk construction work is finished. If a notifiable incident happens during the work, it is kept for at least two years after the incident.

In WHSComply, subcontractors submit each SWMS against the project and the high risk work it covers. The site manager approves it or sends it back with a reason, workers sign on before they start, and every version is kept.