Mobile Crushing and Screening Plant SWMS

For crushing and recycling contractors, civil and demolition crews and site managers who run mobile crushers and screens on construction, civil and demolition recycling sites. It follows the work from the site plan and power lines through set-up, the daily check and start-up, loader feeding, blockages, conveyors and stockpiles, dust and noise control, wear part changes, fire and shut-down. Fixed-plant maintenance needs its own SWMS, and sites covered by the mining safety Acts are outside it.

Operating a mobile crusher or screen is not high risk construction work by itself. WHS Regulation s 299 requires a SWMS only for high risk construction work, such as crushing on a demolition or civil construction site where powered mobile plant moves, so none is pre-ticked. If the job is construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as movement of powered mobile plant, a fall of more than 2 m, energised electrical installations or services, the disturbance of asbestos or a contaminated atmosphere; otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. Mines and quarries covered by the mining safety Acts are outside the WHS Act.

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

What Is Covered In Our Mobile Crushing and Screening Plant SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the site, power lines and exclusion zones” to “Shut down, make safe and move off”. The hazards and controls include:

• Entanglement at conveyors, rollers and nip points
• Crusher or feeder starting during a blockage
• Silica dust from crushing concrete and masonry
• Noise from the crusher, screen and loader
• Loader and excavator collisions and roll-over at the hopper
• Asbestos and contaminants in demolition feed
• Tracked plant roll-over and set-up crush injuries
• Falls from platforms, ladders and walkways
• Stockpile slides and falling material
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Hydraulic and fuel fires
• Heavy wear part changes and hydraulic stored energy
• Whole-body vibration from plant platforms

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 make and model of mobile crusher and screen, including start-up, emergency stops, blockages and isolation; no high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation covers crushers, screens, loaders or excavators
• Loader or excavator operator trained and competent on the feeding machine and the feed hopper
• General construction induction training card (white card) when the crushing is construction work, such as on a demolition or civil construction site, and the site induction
• Competent person to maintain, inspect and repair the plant to the maker’s recommendations (WHS Regulation s 213)
• Crystalline silica training (a VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) for workers who may be involved in, or at risk from, high risk processing of a crystalline silica substance, with a training record kept (WHS Regulation s 529CD)
• Asbestos awareness so workers can recognise suspect sheeting, lagging and other material, stop work and report it, and a competent person to identify it (WHS Regulation s 422)
• High risk work licence in the dogging class (or a rigging class) for anyone slinging a heavy part, or directing a crane operator who cannot see the load (WHS Regulation Schedule 19, dogging work), and the crane operator licence class for any crane used
• Spotter trained in signals, blind spots and the exclusion zone
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders or access to them (WHS Regulation 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) ss 208, 210, 211 and 213: guarding, operator controls that can be locked off, emergency stops, and maintenance and inspection of plant
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 214 and 215: powered mobile plant, operator protective devices and collisions with pedestrians
• 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) chapter 8A, ss 529A to 529CD: processing a crystalline silica substance, which includes crushing and mechanical screening
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 422 and 458: identifying or assuming asbestos, and licensed asbestos removalists
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 60: hazardous manual tasks
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022 (crushing machines; used as good practice outside construction)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Demolition Work Code of Practice 2021 (where the feed comes from demolition)
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (fuel and oils)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021 (platforms and ladders)
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (heat)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (where the work is beside a road)
• 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
• Mining safety Acts: the WHS Act does not apply to a coal mine to which the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 applies, or to a mine to which the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 applies (WHS Act schedule 1, part 2, division 1, section 2(1)(a) and (b)); a quarry is a mine unless a regulation declares otherwise (Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 s 9(1)(f) and (4))

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: safety boots; high-visibility clothing; hard hat for anyone outside a cab where material or parts could fall
• Emergency arrangements for: person caught in a conveyor, roller or crusher, power line contact (general guidance) and fire in the engine bay, hydraulics 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.