Natural Stone and Porcelain Benchtop Fabrication SWMS

Suits stone fabricators and benchtop makers cutting and finishing natural stone and porcelain benchtops in a workshop. It starts with confirming the slab is not engineered stone, which is prohibited, then covers the silica assessment and plan, unloading and lifting slabs, wet cutting on a bridge saw, polishing, bonding, clean-up and loading. Site installation has its own SWMS.

Workshop fabrication is not construction work (WHS Regulation s 289(3)(b)), so a SWMS is not required by law for it under s 299 and no high risk construction work item is ticked; a workshop set up for a particular construction project is construction work, so tick the items that apply in that case. The silica risk control plan required for high risk silica processing (s 529CB) is a separate document that this SWMS supports.

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 Natural Stone and Porcelain Benchtop Fabrication SWMS?

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

• Fabricating engineered stone, which is prohibited
• Respirable crystalline silica dust from cutting and polishing
• Silica assessment, risk control plan and worker training
• Heavy slabs falling during unloading and lifting
• Vacuum lifter and crane lifting failures
• Bridge saw blade breakage and kickback
• Electric shock where water meets electrical equipment
• Noise from cutting and polishing
• Hand-arm vibration and awkward postures
• Adhesives, resins and solvents, including fire
• Silica slurry and dust spreading through the workshop
• Loading finished benchtops onto vehicles

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

• Crystalline silica training (a VET accredited course, or training approved by the regulator) for each worker who may do or be exposed to high risk silica processing, with records kept while the worker does the processing and for 5 years after they stop working for the business (WHS Regulation s 529CD)
• Person able to carry out and record the written silica processing assessment, and prepare and review the silica risk control plan, before processing starts (WHS Regulation ss 529CA and 529CB)
• Trade competency in cutting and finishing stone and porcelain, verified for each machine (bridge saw, CNC, edge polisher, hand tools), with new workers under supervision
• High risk work licence for the forklift truck class, and for a bridge and gantry crane or vehicle loading crane where Schedule 3 requires it (separate dogging licence for slinging, or directing a crane operator who cannot see the load)
• Training in the respirator issued, with a fit test for each wearer of a tight-fitting mask
• Competent person to maintain plant, lifting gear and extraction, and a person competent to carry out air monitoring where the assessment calls for it (WHS Regulation s 50)
• Health monitoring arranged and paid for by the business for workers doing ongoing silica work where there is a significant risk to health (WHS Regulation ss 368 and 372)
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42)
• No general construction induction training card (white card) is needed for workshop fabrication; it is needed for construction work on a site

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): chapter 8A, crystalline silica (ss 529A to 529CD), including the prohibition on work involving engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs in s 529D
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 529CE (air monitoring results to the regulator) and s 50 (air monitoring)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 368 and 372 and Schedule 14 (health monitoring)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): plant ss 208, 210, 211, 213 and 214; noise ss 56 to 58; hazardous chemicals ss 344, 346 and 351
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022 (guidance only: written for construction and for manufacturing construction elements, not for the stone benchtop industry)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing risks of respirable crystalline silica in the workplace (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)
• 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
• 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
• Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland), applied by the Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012 (Qld): s 6 (heavy vehicle means a vehicle with a GVM or ATM of more than 4.5 t) and s 26C (primary duty of each party in the chain of responsibility)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): s 55 (electrical work licence)
• AS/NZS 1716:2012 (Respiratory protective devices) and AS/NZS 1715:2009 (Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective equipment), as named in WHS Regulation s 529B

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (17 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.