Truck Tail Lift SWMS

Suits delivery drivers, warehouse and transport businesses that use tail lifts on trucks. It covers the pre-use check, parking and set-up, opening and lowering the platform, loading, raising and lowering, moving loads, stowing, maintenance and incident response. Loading and unloading vehicles in general has its own SWMS.

Operating a truck tail lift 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); this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment that you tailor to your operation. If the work is part of construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as powered mobile plant movement.

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

What Is Covered In Our Truck Tail Lift SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Pre-use check of the tail lift and truck” to “Respond to a trapped person, stuck platform or incident”. The hazards and controls include:

• Crush at the platform hinge and truck bed
• Fall from the platform edge
• Load sliding or tipping off the platform
• Platform overload
• Trapped feet under the platform
• Pedestrians and vehicles near the lift
• Hydraulic fault and sudden lowering
• Pallet jack or cage running away
• Hazardous manual tasks
• Platform not locked for travel
• Working under a raised platform
• Overhead obstructions in the lift path

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

• Driver licence of the class that suits the truck
• Training and verified competency on the tail lift model, its controls, safety devices and emergency procedure (no Schedule 3 high risk work licence class covers a truck tail lift)
• Training in hazardous manual tasks, pallet jack and trolley use
• Competent person for inspection, maintenance and repair of the lift, following the manufacturer’s service schedule
• Workers trained in first aid, or access to them (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Site induction at each delivery location, and a general construction induction training card (white card) if delivering onto a construction site

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 205 to 213 (plant), ss 214 and 215 (powered mobile plant) and s 219 (plant that lifts or suspends loads), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks), s 42 (first aid)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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), 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)
• National Load Restraint Guide (National Heavy Vehicle Regulator): guidance, not law
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2 (exclusion zones for overhead electric lines)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 9 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 with slip-resistant soles and toe protection; high-visibility clothing; gloves suited to the freight and to hydraulic fluid; safety glasses when working near hydraulics
• Emergency arrangements for: person trapped under or beside the platform, platform stuck raised or lowered and hydraulic oil leak
• 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.