Roofing Materials Crane Loading SWMS

For roofing contractors, roof material suppliers and crane or boom truck operators who deliver sheets, tiles and packs onto a roof. It follows the job from planning the landing points and setting up the crane, through slinging, lifting and receiving the load at the edge, to landing and stowing, and leaves crane operation and the roof work itself to their own SWMS.

Two items are pre-ticked: a fall of more than 2 metres (receiving loads at the roof edge) and movement of powered mobile plant (the crane or boom truck). Untick the fall item if no one can fall that far, and tick any other item that applies, such as energised electrical services or work next to a road.

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

What Is Covered In Our Roofing Materials Crane Loading SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the delivery and the landing points” to “Stow the crane and clear the site”. The hazards and controls include:

• Loads falling from slings and packs
• Load swing and spin in wind
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Falls from the roof edge when receiving a load
• Falling objects striking people below
• Crane or truck tip-over from ground failure
• Roof frame overloaded by stacked materials
• Operator unable to see the landing point
• Cuts from sheet edges and straps
• Manual handling of sheets and packs
• Wind, rain and heat during lifting
• Stabilisers striking people when stowing

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

• High risk work licence for the class of the mobile crane used (slewing or non-slewing class), or for the vehicle loading crane class where the boom truck’s crane is 10 metre tonnes or more (Schedule 3 item 13)
• Operator of a vehicle loading crane under 10 metre tonnes: familiarisation training on the crane; may sling only loads whose weight, slings and method are set in advance by a licensed dogger, rigger or engineer, after documented training
• Dogging licence, or a higher rigging class, for anyone who slings the load or directs the operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work), including precision placement of roofing bundles
• Roofers trained in the fall protection used at the roof edge and in the rescue plan (WHS Regulation ss 39 and 80)
• Competent person to confirm that the roof frame can carry stacked materials and is braced, before any load is landed
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work; site induction
• Written evidence that each licence was sighted before work started (WHS Regulation s 85)

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 (section 14, vehicle-loading cranes; section 11.2.3, unsecured and dropped loads)
• 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 the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work 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)
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 (where a scaffold or loading platform is used)
• 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 (13 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 for the roof crew; safety boots with slip-resistant soles; cut-resistant gloves for sheet edges and straps; safety glasses
• Emergency arrangements for: load swings or slips and person falls from the roof edge
• 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.