Solar Farm DC Cable Trenching and Laying SWMS

For solar farm civil and electrical contractors who dig cable trenches and lay DC string and array cables between the arrays, combiner boxes and power conversion equipment. It follows the work in order: route planning and services information, locating and proving services, traffic and barriers, excavating, trench support and entry, cable drums, laying and pulling cable, live cable ends, backfill and route marking, heat and remote site conditions, and handover. General trenching, deep trenches and energised testing have their own SWMS.

Powered mobile plant works along the trench line on every job, so item 14 is ticked. Item 10 (work on or near energised electrical installations or services, WHS Regulation s 291(k)) is not ticked because laying cable before it is connected to anything need not be on or near energised parts: tick it where the trench is dug near live underground cables or services, or where cable is laid or connected beside energised modules or equipment. Also tick any other item that applies: a trench deeper than 1.5 metres (item 6, with the Trenching and Excavation SWMS for the ground support), a road or traffic corridor in use (item 13), a fall of more than 2 metres (item 0), and a contaminated or flammable atmosphere (item 11) where silica dust from cutting or breaking rock is expected. Laying, cutting, connecting and earthing cable is electrical work for a licensed electrical worker.

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

What Is Covered In Our Solar Farm DC Cable Trenching and Laying SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the route, get underground services information and agree the sequence” to “Leave trenches and cable ends safe and hand over”. The hazards and controls include:

• Striking underground cables and services
• Trench wall collapse in shallow trenches
• Falls into open trenches by people and stock
• Plant and trucks striking workers on foot
• Cable drums rolling, tipping or falling
• Cable pulls under tension and failing grips
• Live PV modules and cable ends
• Unlicensed cutting and connecting of cable
• Overhead power line exclusion zones
• Silica and soil dust, including Q fever
• Heat, storms and snake bite on remote sites
• Cable damage during backfill and compaction

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:

• Is carried out in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and a site induction that covers snakes, heat, live modules and cables, and emergency contacts
• Electrical work licence that authorises the work, for laying, cutting, sealing, joining, terminating, earthing and testing cable (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55); the contractor holds an electrical contractor licence (s 56)
• Assistants who are not licensed electrical workers help only under the direct supervision of the electrical worker and never touch energised equipment (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 18(2)(g)); they do not cut, seal or connect cables or make earthing connections (Construction and Operation of Solar Farms Code of Practice 2024 section 3.5.1)
• Trained, competent operator of the cable and pipe locator or ground penetrating radar (Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021 section 3.6)
• Excavator, trencher and compaction plant operators trained and assessed as competent on the machine (no high risk work licence class applies to operating an excavator or trencher)
• High risk work licence for the class of any forklift truck, vehicle loading crane or other crane used to move cable drums, and the dogging licence class for anyone who slings a drum or directs a crane operator who cannot see the load (WHS Regulation Schedule 3)
• Competent person, for example an engineer, to advise on ground support when a trench is 1.5 m or more deep or the ground is poor
• Spotters briefed on signals, digging limits, proved service positions and the emergency plan
• Workers trained in first aid, including snake bite, or access to trained persons (WHS Regulation s 42)

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 304 to 306: excavation work (underground essential services information, management of excavation risks, and additional controls for trenches)
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 214, 215 and 219: powered mobile plant, and plant that lifts or suspends loads
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 289, 291 and 299: construction work, high risk construction work and safe work method statements
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 40 to 43 and 48: facilities and drinking water, first aid, emergency plan and remote or isolated work
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 56, 57 and 60: noise exposure standard, hearing loss and hazardous manual tasks
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) chapter 8A (ss 529A to 529CD): crystalline silica, where rock is cut or broken
• Construction and Operation of Solar Farms Code of Practice 2024
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): ss 18, 55 and 56 (electrical work, electrical work licence and electrical contractor licence)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2 (overhead exclusion zones) and ss 14 and 15 (underground electric lines)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 292 and 296 (serious electrical incidents and dangerous electrical events)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace

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
• 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: steel-capped safety boots with a non-slip sole; high-visibility clothing; hard hat where plant, lifting or overhead work creates a risk of falling objects; safety glasses
• Emergency arrangements for: cable strike or power line contact, trench collapse or person trapped and snake or spider bite, or heat stroke
• 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.