Hive Loading and Migratory Beekeeping SWMS

For commercial and migratory beekeepers, apiary contractors and transport operators who load and move hives on trucks. It follows the work from planning and allergy checks through preparing the hives, night work, forklift and crane loading, restraining the load, driving and unloading at the new site. General hive handling and inspection is separate work.

Loading hives onto trucks is not high risk construction work, so a SWMS is legally required only where the work is part of high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299); otherwise this 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.

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

What Is Covered In Our Hive Loading and Migratory Beekeeping SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the move: sites, route, night work and who is at risk” to “Clean up, secure the site and finish”. The hazards and controls include:

• Multiple stings and defensive colonies
• Severe allergic reaction after a sting
• Smoker burns and grass fire
• Night work in poor light and traffic
• Forklift tip-over and dropped pallets
• Crane loading and swinging loads
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Load shift and falls from the truck deck
• Heavy lifting of boxes and pallets
• Bees escaping into the cab
• Fatigue on night shifts and long drives

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

• Beekeeping experience or supervised training in hive handling, bee behaviour and hive loading, recorded by the PCBU
• Driver licence of the class that suits the truck; heavy vehicle requirements for the driver where the truck is a heavy vehicle (a vehicle with a GVM or ATM of more than 4.5 t)
• High risk work licence for the forklift truck class (Schedule 3 item 24) for anyone driving a forklift truck, with verification of competency for the model and attachments used
• High risk work licence for the vehicle loading crane class (Schedule 3 item 13, which includes load estimation and slinging) for a vehicle loading crane with a capacity of 10 metre tonnes or more; where another person slings the load, the operator may instead hold a crane class in items 15 to 18 that covers such a crane; training and verified competency for any smaller crane or hive loader
• Dogging licence (Schedule 3 item 4) or a rigging class for anyone who slings a load or directs a crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• First aid certificate for workers expected to give first aid, with training in responding to severe allergic reactions; an adequate number of trained first aiders or access to them (WHS Regulation s 42), and a way to call for help (s 48)
• Information for workers on stings, allergic reactions and what to do, and a way for workers to tell the PCBU about severe allergies in confidence
• Biosecurity, registration and movement requirements for beekeepers checked with the relevant Queensland authority (not covered by this SWMS)

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 40, 42 and 48: workplace facilities including lighting, first aid, and remote or isolated work
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 214, 215, 218 and 219: powered mobile plant, industrial lift trucks and plant that lifts or suspends loads
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 60 and 351: hazardous manual tasks and hazardous chemical risks
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 78 and 79: managing the risk of a fall
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) Schedule 3 (forklift truck, item 24; vehicle loading crane, item 13, and items 15 to 18 where another person slings the load; dogging, item 4; rigging, items 5 to 7) and Schedule 19 (dogging work)
• 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 Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021: outdoor and remote modules, and Appendix E (extra equipment for severe allergies)
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• 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 (16 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: bee suit or jacket with a hood and veil, in good repair, with sleeves and legs sealed at the wrists and ankles
• Emergency arrangements for: many stings, or a person stung in the mouth or throat and smoker or grass fire
• 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.