Evaporator, Pan and Juice Tank Entry SWMS

For sugar mills, mill maintenance contractors and shutdown crews who enter evaporators, vacuum pans and juice tanks to clean, inspect or repair them. It follows the job from deciding whether entry is needed and the permit, through shutdown, cooling and venting, isolation, atmosphere testing and heat control, to entry, rescue from outside and close-out. General confined space entry has its own SWMS.

Entering a mill evaporator, pan or juice tank is work on plant. Under WHS Regulation s 290(2) the construction work chapter does not apply to plant unless an exception applies, such as work that relates to construction work or outage or overhaul of fixed plant involving 5 or more businesses at once, so no high risk construction work item is pre-ticked and s 299 requires a SWMS only if the work is high risk construction work. Where it is, tick confined space (s 291(f)), contaminated or flammable atmosphere (s 291(l)) and artificial extremes of temperature (s 291(p)) if they apply. Either way, the written risk assessment and entry permit that Part 4.3 requires (ss 66 and 67) still apply.

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

What Is Covered In Our Evaporator, Pan and Juice Tank Entry SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Decide whether entry is needed and plan the job” to “Leave the vessel, close out the permit and restore the plant”. The hazards and controls include:

• Low oxygen and fermentation gas in the vessel
• Methane and flammable atmospheres
• Steam or hot juice entering from connected lines
• Burns from hot tubes, walls and residue
• Heat illness inside a steel vessel
• Agitators and circulators starting
• Engulfment in juice, syrup or deposits
• Chemical cleaning residues and fumes
• Falls at the manway and slippery surfaces
• Failed or delayed rescue through a small manway
• Electric shock from lights and tools
• Asbestos in older lagging and gaskets
• A person or tool left inside when closed

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

• A competent person to carry out and record the confined space risk assessment, complete the entry permit and sign off the acknowledgement that everyone has left (WHS Regulation ss 66 and 67)
• Workers who could enter, work in or support work in the vessel, and their supervisors, trained in the hazards, controls, PPE, the permit and the emergency procedures, with training records kept for 2 years (s 76)
• A stand-by person assigned for every entry, who stays outside, can recognise the signs of harm, has the rescue equipment at hand and never enters the vessel to attempt a rescue (s 69; Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021)
• Rescue team or trained workers able to start rescue from outside and practised in the rescue procedure (s 74); air supplied respiratory equipment and suitable PPE available for rescuers (s 75)
• Isolation coordinator or other authorised person trained in the mill’s isolation and lockout procedure, and a safe work permit issuer trained in hazard identification and risk assessment (Sugar Mill Safety Code of Practice 2024 sections 5.2.1 and 8.3)
• Trained user of the gas detector, harness, retrieval line and winch or tripod being used
• Licensed electrical worker for isolating or repairing any electrical supply, motors, drives, lights or controls (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• Dogging or rigging high risk work licence (Schedule 3; the rigging classes include dogging) for anyone who slings a load or directs a plant operator moving a load that is out of the operator’s view, when plant is used to lift equipment or rescue gear (Schedule 19 ‘dogging work’)
• Mill or site induction; first aid training for the stand-by person and rescue team, and an adequate number of workers trained in first aid (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): Part 4.3 Confined spaces (ss 62 to 77) and Schedule 19 (confined space, safe oxygen level)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 208, 210 and 213 (guarding, operational controls, maintenance and inspection of plant); s 40(f) (extremes of heat); ss 51 to 53 and 355 (hazardous atmospheres, ignition sources, flammable stock, fire and explosion)
• Sugar Mill Safety Code of Practice 2024 (heat stress 4.7, isolation and lockout 5.2, methane gas 7.6, asbestos 7.7, confined spaces 8.1, hot work 8.2, safe work permits 8.3)
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (heat)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (older lagging and gaskets)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): electrical work needs a licensed electrical worker (s 55)
• 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 (19 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: full body harness with a lifeline attached to the retrieval equipment, worn by every entrant
• Emergency arrangements for: person overcome, trapped or unresponsive
• 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.