Portable Toilet Servicing SWMS

Suits portable toilet hire and servicing businesses, event toilet suppliers and site toilet contractors who clean, restock and pump out portable units. It follows the run in order: planning, truck checks, parking, opening and emptying the unit, vacuum pumping, cleaning and chemicals, lifting and moving units, hygiene and discharge. The full tanker transfer and general vacuum truck work have their own SWMS.

Servicing portable toilets is not high risk construction work by itself, so no item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). If the work is part of construction work on a construction site, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as a confined space or a traffic corridor in use. Otherwise the document works as a written safe work procedure and task 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 Portable Toilet Servicing 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 sewage and human waste
• Needle and sharps injuries in units
• Toxic and flammable gases from waste
• Splashes to eyes and mouth
• Mixing incompatible cleaning chemicals
• Hose whip and coupling failure
• Overfilling and tank pressure
• Entry into tanks and pits
• Heavy lifting and tipping units
• Traffic and reversing at events and kerbs
• Hygiene and infection after the job
• Heat and driver fatigue

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

• Driver licence for the class of truck driven
• Training and verified competency on the vacuum tanker, pump, valves, hoses and relief valves
• Training in biological hazards: infection controls, hygiene, vaccination advice and sharps handling
• Training in the hazardous chemicals used, reading the SDS and spill response
• Awareness of the confined space rules in Part 4.3 of the WHS Regulation: recognising a confined space and never entering without a permit and rescue arrangements
• Training in respiratory protective equipment if used, including fit testing
• First aid training for at least one person, with first aid provided as s 42 of the WHS Regulation requires
• Site induction at each event, worksite and receiving site
• No Schedule 3 high risk work licence class covers a tanker or a portable toilet

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 62 to 77: confined spaces (Part 4.3), including risk assessment s 66 and entry permit s 67
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 351, 355 and 357: hazardous chemical risks, fire and explosion, spills
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 41, 42, 44 and 52: facilities, first aid, personal protective equipment and ignition sources
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 56, 57 and 60: noise, and hazardous manual tasks
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 213: maintenance and inspection of plant
• 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), s 26C (primary duty of each party in the chain of responsibility), s 96 (compliance with mass requirements), s 110 (national regulations may prescribe loading requirements), s 111 (compliance with the loading requirements) and s 228 (duty of driver to avoid driving while fatigued or unfit to drive)
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• 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 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
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (preserved code of practice, where work is in or beside a traffic lane)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Managing the risks of biological hazards at work, Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice, March 2026 (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)
• Managing the risk of fatigue at work, Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice, September 2025 (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)

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.