Mechanical Tree Harvesting SWMS

For forestry contractors, harvesting crews and land managers who run harvesters, feller bunchers and processors. It follows the work from the harvesting plan and site walk through power lines, exclusion zones, the machine pre-start, travel, felling and processing, hung-up and dead trees, blockages and cutting head maintenance, fire control and shut-down. Chainsaw felling, log extraction and mulching are not covered and need their own SWMS.

Mechanical tree harvesting is not construction work by itself, so WHS Regulation s 299 requires a SWMS only if the work is part of high risk construction work, for example clearing land as site preparation for building (s 289(2)(g)); otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. If it is construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as movement of powered mobile plant, energised electrical installations or services near overhead lines, or a road in use; none is pre-ticked.

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

What Is Covered In Our Mechanical Tree Harvesting SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the harvest and inspect the site” to “Park, shut down and leave the site safe”. The hazards and controls include:

• Trees falling in an unplanned direction
• Cab strike by trees, limbs and thrown wood
• Roll-over on slopes, soft ground and creek banks
• Contact with overhead power lines
• People entering the exclusion zone
• Dead trees and hung-up trees releasing
• Stressed stems springing back
• Contact with the cutting head and knives
• Hydraulic hose bursts and stored energy
• Fire from sparks, fuel and hot parts
• Noise, dust and whole-body vibration
• Heat illness, snakes and insects
• Fatigue and working alone out of coverage

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

• Operator trained and assessed as competent on the harvester, feller buncher or processor and its cutting head, using nationally recognised industry competency standards where available; competence is recorded, and a trainee operates only under the supervision of an experienced certificated operator (Forest Harvesting Code of Practice 2007 sections 8.2, 8.3 and 10.1)
• No high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation covers harvesters, feller bunchers or processors
• Driver licence for the class of vehicle if the machine is driven on a public road (Forest Harvesting Code of Practice 2007 section 10.1)
• General induction and a site induction covering the site hazards, work methods and the requirements of the business and the owner of the site (Forest Harvesting Code of Practice 2007 section 8.4)
• General construction induction training card (white card) only when the harvesting is construction work, for example site clearing for a building (WHS Regulation s 289(2)(g))
• Competent person (an experienced feller or arborist) to assess dead, leaning, hung-up and unusual trees; chainsaw felling by ground crew needs its own SWMS and chainsaw accreditation (Forest Harvesting Code of Practice 2007 section 8.3)
• Competent person to maintain, inspect and repair the machine, cutting head, hydraulics and operator protective structure to the maker’s recommendations (WHS Regulation s 213)
• Spotter or ground worker briefed on the signals, the exclusion zone and the machine’s blind spots
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders or access to them (WHS Regulation s 42); the Forest Harvesting Code of Practice 2007 says all harvesting workers should be trained in first aid and vehicles carry first aid kits

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 208, 210 and 213: guarding, operator controls that can be locked off, and maintenance and inspection of plant
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 214 and 215: powered mobile plant, operator protective devices, riders and warning devices
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 48: remote or isolated work
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 56 to 58: noise exposure standard, managing hearing loss and audiometric testing
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 60: hazardous manual tasks
• Forest Harvesting Code of Practice 2007 (harvesting plan, felling zone, hung-up trees, dead trees, power lines, plant safety, fatigue and heat stress)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (roll-over and falling object protective structures)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021 (whole-body vibration)
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (fuel)
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (outdoor work, heat, remote or isolated work)
• 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)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2; underground electric lines in sections 14 and 15
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (21 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: protective footwear, worn by everyone working in the harvesting area; high-visibility clothing, worn at all times in the harvesting area
• Emergency arrangements for: power line contact (general guidance), roll-over, or the cab struck by a tree or limb and 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.