Keg Handling and Beer Gas Cellar SWMS

Suits pubs, clubs, restaurants, breweries and beverage distributors that handle kegs and run beer gas systems in cellars. It covers keg delivery and moving, cellar access, gas cylinder changeover, carbon dioxide hazards, line cleaning and emergencies.

Keg and cellar work is 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). If your cellar meets the WHS Regulation definition of a confined space, tick the confined space item and use the confined space rules for entry. Otherwise this 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 Keg Handling and Beer Gas Cellar SWMS?

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

• Carbon dioxide collecting in a cellar and displacing oxygen
• Entering a cellar with a gas leak
• Rescue attempts that create a second casualty
• Heavy keg lifting and carrying
• Kegs falling or rolling onto feet and hands
• Falls through hatches and on cellar stairs
• Gas cylinders falling or leaking
• Keg and coupler pressure release
• Caustic and acid line cleaners
• Slips on wet cellar floors
• Cold stress in cellars and cool rooms

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 in hazardous manual tasks and safe keg handling
• Training in gas cylinder handling, changeover and leak response
• Training in carbon dioxide hazards in cellars, the alarm and the emergency procedure
• Competent person to assess the cellar and, if it is a confined space, to complete the risk assessment and entry permit (WHS Regulation ss 66 and 67)
• First aider on site
• Site induction

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021 (if the cellar is a confined space)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities 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

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 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.