Crane Boom Assembly and Disassembly SWMS

For rigging crews, crane owners and crane hire companies that assemble and dismantle mobile crane booms, jibs and counterweights on site. It follows the work from planning and ground preparation through pinning, rope fitting, raising and testing to disassembly and load-out, and leaves crane operation to the crane SWMS.

Assembly at a crane yard or workshop is not construction work; a SWMS is legally required when the work is high risk construction work, such as a fall of more than 2 m or movement of powered mobile plant on a construction site (WHS Regulation s 299), and otherwise the document works as a written safe work procedure.

New to SWMS? Read What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?

What Is Covered In Our Crane Boom Assembly and Disassembly SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the assembly or disassembly” to “Load out and pack up”. The hazards and controls include:

• Boom collapse during assembly or disassembly
• Stored energy in pinned joints and hydraulic parts
• Crush injuries from boom sections and counterweights
• Falls from the crane body, boom and counterweight deck
• Ground failure under the crane and boom supports
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Wrong or missing pins and locking devices
• Dropped boom sections, jibs and counterweights
• Wire rope cuts and whipping rope under tension
• Hydraulic fluid injection and spills
• Faulty limiters after reassembly
• Manual handling of pins, ropes and tools

High Risk Construction Work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m
• Is carried out in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant

Licences, Training and Competency

• Competent person (for example a rigger) to oversee all assembly and disassembly, working to the crane maker’s written procedure
• Rigging licence class that qualifies for the work (Schedule 3: intermediate rigging item 6(c) covers rigging work on cranes, and rigging work includes setting up or dismantling a crane). A rigging licence holder whose work is limited to setting up or dismantling the crane does not also need a crane operator licence (WHS Regulation s 82(4)); this exemption is for rigging licence holders only, not other workers
• High risk work licence for the class of any assist crane used to lift boom sections, jibs and counterweights (slewing mobile crane class matching its capacity, or non-slewing class)
• Dogging licence, or a higher rigging class, for anyone slinging a load or directing the assist crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view
• Familiarisation on the crane model, its boom system and load charts, and written evidence that each licence was sighted before work started (WHS Regulation s 85)
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work; site induction
• Training in the fall protection used on the crane and the rescue procedure (WHS Regulation ss 39 and 80)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10-13 and Schedule 2, overhead power line exclusion zones
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Sch 3 and Sch 19 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): licence classes and meaning of dogging work

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 11 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: hard hat with chin strap when working at height; safety boots with ankle support and slip-resistant soles; cut-resistant gloves for wire rope and pin handling; safety glasses
• Emergency arrangements for: boom section or pin released unexpectedly and person injured on or under the boom
• Plus the parts every Work Safety QLD SWMS shares, from the s 291 checklist to the worker sign-on sheet (see the layout in our free SWMS template)

Adjust it for your site, plant and crew, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed November 2026.