CNC Router SWMS

Suits joinery, cabinet making, signage, shopfitting and furniture workshops that run CNC routers to cut timber, board and panels. It covers pre-start checks, programming, changing cutters, loading sheets, proving and running cycles, dust, noise, unloading, clearing jams and shutdown.

A CNC router in a workshop is not high risk construction work, so a SWMS is required by law (WHS Regulation s 299) only when the work is part of high risk construction work (s 291). Otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. If the machine is used during construction work, for example on a fit-out site, tick the s 291 items that apply, such as a risk of a fall of more than 2 m, energised electrical installations or services, or movement of powered mobile plant.

Learn More: What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?
Have you ever been asked to provide a SWMS on a project in Queensland? Read our guide to what a Safe Work Method Statement is and when you need one.

What Is Covered In Our CNC Router SWMS?

The job steps run in the order the work is done, from pre-start checks to finishing up. The hazards and controls include:

• Contact with the moving gantry or spindle
• Entanglement and crushing at the machine
• Cutters breaking and throwing fragments
• Ejected offcuts and parts
• Cuts when changing cutters
• Machine starting during clearing and cleaning
• Manual handling of large sheets
• Fine wood and board dust in the air
• Fire and dust explosion in the extraction
• Noise from the spindle and extraction
• Electric shock from leads and the control cabinet
• Slips on dust and offcuts

High Risk Construction Work

No high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this work is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick the items that apply to your job, such as a fall risk of more than 2 metres or work where powered mobile plant is moving.

Licences, Training and Competency

• Training from the supplier or a competent person in the machine’s controls, emergency stops, tooling changes and program proving, with competency confirmed before unsupervised use
• Training in the site’s isolation (lock-out) procedure for maintenance and clearing jams
• General construction induction training card (white card) only if the machine is operated on a construction site
• Site induction
• No high risk work licence class covers CNC routers

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): safety switches and tag-and-test duties where manufacturing work is the primary work at the workplace (ss 133 and 134), or construction electrical equipment (s 140) on a construction site
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages
• Business, client, job and document details typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• The high risk construction work checklist, worded as WHS Regulation s 291, and the construction project question (s 292)
• A worker and health and safety representative consultation record
• Qualifications, plant, PPE, hazardous chemicals, safety equipment, permits, references and emergency arrangements filled in for this work
• A 5 x 5 risk matrix, and job steps with initial and residual risk scores and the people responsible
• Implementing, monitoring and review requirements, an additional controls log, revision history and a worker sign-on sheet

Review and adjust it for your site, your plant and the way your crew does the job, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. If you have any trouble downloading this SWMS, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.