Centre Pivot and Lateral Move Irrigator Maintenance SWMS

For irrigators, farm maintenance staff and irrigation service contractors. It covers maintaining centre pivot and lateral move irrigators, including electrical isolation, heights on towers, moving machinery and bore pumps. It does not cover installing new irrigation systems.

Irrigator maintenance, including work at height on pivot towers, is not high risk construction work by itself. A SWMS is legally required only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299); otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. If the job is construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 m, a confined space or energised electrical installations; none is pre-ticked.

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

What Is Covered In Our Centre Pivot and Lateral Move Irrigator Maintenance SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job and check the field” to “Manage heat, sun, wildlife and remote work”. The hazards and controls include:

• Electric shock from pivot panels and tower wiring
• Remote or timed start-up of the irrigator
• Falls from towers, spans and ladders
• Moving towers, wheels and drive shafts
• Pressurised water and chemigation lines
• Heavy gearbox, motor and wheel handling
• Overhead power lines near spans and cranes
• Bore pump lifting and pump pits
• Channel and drain edges at lateral moves
• Fire from hot work and refuelling
• Snakes, insects and heat in remote paddocks

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

• Training and verified competency in servicing the irrigator make and model, including the maker’s isolation and restart procedures
• Licensed electrical worker for any electrical work on the pivot panel, tower boxes, motors, pumps and supply wiring (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55); a business that does or offers electrical work holds an electrical contractor licence (s 56)
• Plumbing, pump and hydraulic knowledge suited to the equipment, with training in pressurised water systems
• High risk work licence in the dogging class (or a rigging class) for anyone slinging a pump or heavy part, or directing a crane or hoist operator who cannot see the load (WHS Regulation Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Training in working at height with ladders, platforms and any fall arrest equipment used, and in rescue
• Chemical handling training where chemigation or fertigation lines are worked on
• Property induction covering power lines, bores, channels, stock, gates, wildlife and emergency arrangements
• First aid arrangements suited to remote work (WHS Regulation s 42), including snake bite response

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) ss 208, 210 and 213: guarding, operator controls that can be locked off and maintenance of plant
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 78 and 79: managing the risk of a fall
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 48: remote or isolated work
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 219: plant that lifts or suspends loads
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) Part 4.3: confined spaces (pump pits and sumps)
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): s 141 (rural industry work, such as the farm’s own workers) or s 133 (manufacturing work, which includes maintenance and repair, such as a contractor), safety switches and testing of plug-in equipment
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Electrical equipment rural industry (read with the 2026 Regulation section numbers)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 11 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: safety boots; safety glasses, with a face shield for grinding or pressurised work; gloves suited to the task: cut-resistant for handling parts, chemical-resistant for chemigation lines
• Emergency arrangements for: electric shock or contact with a power line, fall from a tower or ladder and snake bite
• 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.