Glass Balustrade Installation SWMS

Suits glaziers, builders and balustrade installers fitting frameless or semi-frameless glass balustrades on balconies, stairs, decks and slab edges. It follows the job from design and delivery checks through edge protection, moving and lifting glass, drilling, fixing spigots or channels, securing panels, handrails, final checks and clean-up. Steel and timber balustrades have the Balustrade and Handrail Installation SWMS, general glazing has the Glazing SWMS and glass fences have their own separate SWMS.

Installing a glass balustrade is construction work, but it is high risk construction work only when it involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres (section 291 of the WHS Regulation), so no item is pre-ticked. Tick the fall item for balconies, upper-level stairs and slab edges, because a SWMS is then required under section 299, and tick other items if they apply, such as energised electrical installations or services, or powered mobile plant. For ground-level work with a fall under 2 metres this works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment.

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

What Is Covered In Our Glass Balustrade Installation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job, check the design and the delivery” to “Clean up, waste and end of day”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from open balcony, stair and slab edges
• Heavy glass dropped or tipped
• Glass breaking and cutting a worker
• Strains from carrying glass
• Silica dust and slurry from drilling and coring
• Striking reinforcement or post-tension cables
• Chemical anchors, grout and adhesives
• Panels swinging in wind during lifting
• Tools and fixings falling on people below
• Pinch points on clamps and handrails
• Working from ladders and temporary platforms
• Unprotected gaps left open at the end of the day

High Risk Construction Work

None of the high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this job is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick any that apply on your site.

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Experienced glazier or installer, or a worker directly supervised by one, trained in the balustrade system being installed
• Training in the vacuum lifter, glazing trolley, core drilling rig and power tools used
• Competent person to inspect temporary edge protection, ladders, scaffolds and platforms
• Scaffolding licence of the matching class for any scaffold from which a person or object could fall more than 4 m (erected under a separate scaffold SWMS)
• High risk work licence for a boom-type elevating work platform where the boom is 11 m or more (Schedule 3, item 21)
• High risk work licence for the class of any crane or hoist used, and the dogging class for anyone who slings a load or directs a crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 3, Schedule 19)
• Queensland Building and Construction Commission licence where the work requires one (check the requirements for the job)
• Workers trained in first aid, with first aid provided as s 42 of the WHS Regulation requires
• Site induction

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), including ss 306C to 306M (falls) and ss 315B to 315M (falling objects)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 (scaffolds used for access)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead line exclusion zones (ss 10 to 13 and sch 2) and electrical equipment on construction sites (s 140)

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
• 10 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: cut-resistant gloves for glass handling; safety glasses or a face shield; safety boots with steel or composite toe caps; hard hat
• Emergency arrangements for: fall from height or person suspended in a harness and serious cut from glass
• 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.