Rooftop Antenna and Cell Site Installation SWMS

For telecommunications contractors, antenna installers and site crews who fit antennas, dishes and radio equipment to rooftops and cell sites. It follows the job from the site survey and radio frequency controls through roof access, fall protection and anchors, crane and hoist lifts, installing and cabling the equipment, to commissioning and handover. It does not cover tower climbing (the Telecommunication Tower Climbing SWMS covers that).

Falls of more than 2 metres from a roof edge mean item 0 is ticked. Tick the other items that apply, such as work near energised installations (item 10), a road in use (item 13) or moving powered mobile plant when a crane is used (item 14). Item 1 (WHS Regulation s 291(b)) applies to work on a telecommunication tower, which this SWMS does not cover; use the tower climbing SWMS for that.

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

What Is Covered In Our Rooftop Antenna and Cell Site Installation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job and survey the site” to “Pack up, restore transmitters and hand back the site”. The hazards and controls include:

• Radio frequency exposure near transmitting antennas
• Transmitters restored while workers are close
• Falls from roof edges, parapets and ladders
• Weak anchors and suspension trauma
• Falling through fragile roofing
• Dropped antennas, dishes and tools
• Crane and hoist lifts of heavy equipment
• Crane or antenna contact with power lines
• Electric shock from mains and DC power
• Laser light at fibre ends
• Drilling into hidden services and asbestos
• Lightning, wind and heat on exposed roofs

High Risk Construction Work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and the building owner’s and carrier’s site inductions
• Written access authority from the building owner, and from each carrier or equipment owner whose antennas share the roof
• Radio frequency (RF) safety training to the carrier’s or equipment owner’s procedure, including how to read the site’s zone map and use any personal RF monitor; no high risk work licence class covers this work
• Training in the fall controls used on the roof (edge protection, travel restraint or fall arrest harness system) and in the rescue plan; a rescue-trained crew, because nobody may use a fall arrest harness system alone (WHS Regulation s 306I)
• High risk work licence for the class of crane, or for a boom-type elevating work platform with a boom of 11 m or more (WHS Regulation Schedule 3 items 8 to 18 and 21), where one is used
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class, for anyone who slings a load or directs a crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 3 item 4 and Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Licensed electrical worker for any mains, DC power, earthing or lightning protection work (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55); installing telecommunications cabling is excluded from that licence requirement (s 55(3)(a)), but confirm any cabling registration the cabling work needs
• Competent person to inspect and approve anchor points and edge protection, and a structural engineer or the designer to confirm the roof and mounts carry the equipment
• Asbestos awareness for workers who may drill or fix into older roofs and plant rooms: recognise suspect material, stop and report; training in identification and safe handling for workers the business reasonably believes may do asbestos-related work (WHS Regulation s 445)
• First aid, CPR and suspension trauma training for the crew, and first aid arrangements for the site (WHS Regulation s 42)

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 78 to 80 and 306C to 306M: managing the risk of a fall, edge protection, fall protection covers, travel restraint, fall arrest harness systems and ladders
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 48: remote or isolated work
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 54 and 55, and ss 315B to 315M where they apply: falling objects (civil construction work includes work on a telecommunications structure, s 315C)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 219, Schedule 3 and Schedule 19: plant that lifts loads, high risk work licences and dogging work
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 422, 425, 445, 450 and 451: asbestos identification, register, training and refurbishment
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024
• 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
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones (ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2) and energised electrical work (ss 193 to 204)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace
• Radiation Safety Act 1999 (Qld) and Radiation Safety Regulation 2021 (Qld) s 6: the only non-ionising radiation apparatus the Regulation prescribes are a laser and a relevant solarium, its non-ionising dose limits (ss 61 to 64) are for lasers, and it prescribes no radio transmitter and no radio frequency limit

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (17 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 10 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 good grip; hard hat with a chin strap, suited to work at height and below others; high-visibility clothing; safety glasses, with a face shield for grinding or drilling overhead
• Emergency arrangements for: fall arrested or worker hanging in a harness, electric shock and crane or load contacts a power line
• 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.