Sawmill Headrig and Log Breakdown SWMS

For sawmill operators, headrig sawyers, supervisors and maintenance crews in timber mills. It follows the work from the pre-start check and log receival through preparing, clamping and sawing logs and moving cants and slabs, to isolating for blade changes, clearing jams, controlling dust and fire, and shutting the mill down.

Sawmill work 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, for example building or altering the mill structure, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 metres, a confined space, energised electrical installations or movement of powered mobile plant; none is pre-ticked.

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

What Is Covered In Our Sawmill Headrig and Log Breakdown SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Pre-start check of the headrig, controls and work area” to “Shut down, clean down and secure the mill”. The hazards and controls include:

• Contact with the moving blade and wheels
• Kickback and ejected slabs or blade fragments
• Logs rolling in the yard and on the deck
• Crush between log, clamps and carriage
• Metal in logs striking the blade
• Machine starting during blade changes
• Reaching in to clear jams
• Conveyor and roller entanglement
• Wood dust and mould in damp bark
• Sawdust fire and dust explosion
• Hearing loss from the headrig and debarker
• Loaders and log trucks in the yard

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 for each headrig operator (sawyer) on the headrig, carriage, log turner and controls actually used; no high risk work licence class covers a sawmill headrig
• Training in the mill’s isolation, lockout and restart procedure for everyone who changes blades, clears jams or cleans machines
• Competent person (saw doctor or equivalent) to inspect, tension, set and sharpen blades to the maker’s instructions
• High risk work licence for a forklift truck (WHS Regulation Schedule 3 item 24) for anyone driving a forklift truck; loader and log grab operators are trained and verified competent on the machine
• Licensed electrical worker for work on motors, control circuits, interlocks and isolators (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• Training in dust controls, respirator fit and care, and hearing protection for workers in the mill
• Site induction for workers, visitors and log truck drivers, covering traffic routes, unloading rules and exclusion zones
• First aid arrangements suited to serious cuts and crush injuries, including access to an adequate number of workers or other persons trained in first aid (WHS Regulation s 42)
• General construction induction training card (white card) only if the work is construction work

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 203 to 213: plant, including s 208 (guarding), s 210 (operator controls that can be locked off), s 211 (emergency stops), s 212 (warning devices) and s 213 (maintenance and inspection)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 214, 215 and 218: powered mobile plant and industrial lift trucks
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 49 to 53: exposure standards, air monitoring, hazardous atmosphere (combustible dust), ignition sources and flammable material
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 56 to 58: noise exposure standard, managing the risk of hearing loss and audiometric testing
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 60: hazardous manual tasks
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) Part 4.3: confined spaces (bins, hoppers and silos)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace 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
• 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
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• Forest Harvesting Code of Practice 2007 (section 5, log truck restraints and unloading, for the log yard)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 131 to 136 apply only to manufacturing work as defined in s 123 (not construction work), so only where the mill’s work is manufacturing work: s 133 (specified electrical equipment used for the work is inspected and tested by a competent person, at least yearly if double insulated or 6-monthly if not, and is connected to a socket-outlet with a safety switch, subject to the exceptions in s 133(3) and s 135) and s 134 (a non-portable safety switch for a qualifying socket-outlet, only where manufacturing work is the primary work performed at the workplace)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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 with toe protection and non-slip soles; safety glasses with side shields for flying chips and dust; hearing protection, as the last control for noise that cannot be reduced further
• Emergency arrangements for: contact with the blade or machinery, person trapped by logs, a carriage or a conveyor and fire in sawdust, bark or a conveyor
• 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.