Nursery Potting Machine and Pot Filler SWMS

For plant nurseries and growers who run potting machines and pot fillers. It covers operating nursery potting machines and pot fillers, including conveyors, entanglement, dust, potting mix hazards and isolation, from the pre-start check and hopper filling through running the machine, clearing jams, cleaning and maintenance to hygiene at the end of the shift.

Potting machine work in a nursery is not high risk construction work by itself. A SWMS is legally required only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299); otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. If the job is construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 m or movement of powered mobile plant; none is pre-ticked.

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

What Is Covered In Our Nursery Potting Machine and Pot Filler SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the run and check the mix, pots and additives” to “Hygiene, shut-down and end of shift”. The hazards and controls include:

• Entanglement in conveyors, augers and rollers
• Crush and pinch at the dibbler and press
• Starting while someone is clearing a jam
• Stored energy in air cylinders and springs
• Dust and biological hazards from potting mix
• Falls while filling the hopper
• Strain from bags, trays and full pots
• Electric shock in wet areas
• Machine and compressor noise
• Additives and plant chemicals in the mix
• Cuts and infection from handling mix
• Forklift and pedestrian interaction

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

• Operators trained and assessed as competent on the make and model of potting machine and pot filler, including controls, emergency stops and the isolation procedure
• Competent person for tooling changes, adjustments, maintenance and repairs
• Licensed electrical worker for any work on motors, wiring or switchboards (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• High risk work licence for the forklift truck class where a forklift loads bulk mix or moves pallets (a separate SWMS covers forklift operation)
• Training in the additives used (fertiliser, wetting agent, controlled-release products, plant chemicals), including how to read the label and SDS
• Training in hygiene around potting mix: hand washing, covering cuts and reporting symptoms
• Site induction covering walkways, forklift routes, isolation points and emergency stops

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 205 to 213 (plant: unauthorised alterations, proper use, plant not in use, guarding, insulation from heat and cold, operational controls, emergency stops, emergency warning devices, maintenance and inspection)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 56 and 57 (noise), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks), s 40 (general workplace facilities)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): Part 7.1 hazardous chemicals, ss 342 (decanted containers), 344 and 346 (safety data sheets and register) and 351 (managing risks)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 699 (prescribed serious illnesses, including an infection to which work is a significant contributing factor) with WHS Act ss 35, 36 and 38
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (lists hoppers, augers, conveyor belts and roller benches as plant used in the rural industry; applies where the nursery is a rural workplace, that is, its work is primarily the cultivation of an agricultural crop or product, whether or not grown for food)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work 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
• First Aid 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 risks of biological hazards at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): s 55 (only licensed electrical workers do electrical work)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 125 and 141 (only where the nursery work is rural industry work under s 125: visual check of specified electrical equipment before it is plugged in, and a safety switch or annual testing for equipment with a stated electrical risk factor such as plug-in equipment in a wet area)
• AS/NZS 4024 (series) Safety of machinery, conveyors (named only as Appendix D of the Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 lists it)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 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 with toe protection and non-slip soles; gloves for handling mix, pots and trays; waterproof gloves when washing down
• Emergency arrangements for: person caught in the machine or conveyor, fire at the machine or a motor and illness or infection after potting work
• 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.