Header Blockage Clearing and Maintenance SWMS

Suits grain growers, harvesting contractors and farm mechanics who clear blockages and service combine headers in the paddock or shed. It covers shutdown and isolation, supporting the raised header, clearing the reel and auger, knife work, hydraulics and hot work.

Header maintenance is rural work, not high risk construction work, so no high risk construction work items are pre-ticked. A SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299); tick the items that apply if the work forms part of such work. Otherwise it works as a written safe work procedure and risk assessment.

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 Header Blockage Clearing and Maintenance SWMS?

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

• Entanglement in the reel, auger and drive
• Header drive starting during a blockage
• Header or feeder house dropping on a worker
• Cuts from knife sections and guards
• Stored energy in hydraulics, springs and belts
• Hydraulic oil injection
• Falls from the harvester and header
• Fire from welding and sparks near dry crop
• Harvester rolling on soft or sloping ground
• Heat, fatigue and noise during harvest

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

• Competency of each worker for the harvester make and model, confirmed by the PCBU or supervisor
• Trade or equivalent skill for hydraulic, welding and mechanical repairs
• Induction in this SWMS, isolation procedure and the property fire plan
• First aider on site or within reach
• Licence for any vehicle driven on a public road

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Welding Processes Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in section 10 and schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)

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.