Windmill Maintenance SWMS

Suits farmers, station hands and bore and windmill contractors who service windmills and the pumps below them. It covers maintaining farm windmills and bore pumps, including climbing towers, fall arrest, moving blades and rod handling, from remote job planning and tower inspection through restraining the wheel, working at the mill head and pulling rods to testing and pack-up. Telecommunication towers have their own SWMS.

Maintaining a farm windmill is not high risk construction work by itself, so no item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). A windmill tower is a structure, so work on it can be construction work (section 289) unless it is testing, maintenance or repair of a minor nature, but a windmill is also plant and the construction work chapter does not apply to plant unless an exception applies (section 290(2)). If your job is construction work, tick a risk of a fall of more than 2 m (reg 291 item a) and any other item that applies, such as work near energised electrical installations. Otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment.

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

What Is Covered In Our Windmill Maintenance SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job, the weather and the remote work arrangements” to “Heat, sun, wildlife and fatigue on remote jobs”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from the tower and mill head
• Failed or badly placed anchor points
• Suspension intolerance after an arrested fall
• Delayed rescue on a remote property
• Wheel and tail moving in the wind
• Stored energy in the brake, tail and rod column
• Dropped tools, rods and parts
• Heavy pump rods and drop pipe
• Crushing at rod clamps and the bore collar
• Electric shock at the bore pump
• Stings, bird droppings and snakes
• Old paint, gaskets and pipe containing lead or asbestos
• Heat, sun and fatigue

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

• Workers trained and assessed as competent to climb the tower type, use its climbing system, fall arrest and work positioning equipment, and carry out a rescue (no high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 covers tower climbing)
• Rescue training for the crew, with a trained rescuer always on site: nobody uses a harness without another trained person who can rescue them (Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021, ss 7.3, 10.1 and 10.2)
• Competent person to inspect the tower, mill head and climbing system and to approve each anchor point before use
• Competent person for the maintenance, inspection and testing of the windmill and pump as plant, to the maker’s recommendations (WHS Regulation s 213)
• Licensed electrical worker for work on the bore pump wiring, controller, switchboard or solar system (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• High risk work licence for the class of any crane (where Schedule 3 sets one) or boom-type elevating work platform (boom length 11 m or more) used to reach or lift the mill head; for slinging, a dogging licence (Schedule 3 item 4) or a rigging class that includes dogging work (items 5 to 7) for the person who does dogging work as Schedule 19 defines it (applying slinging techniques to safely sling a load, or directing a plant operator in the movement of a load when the load is out of the operator’s view), and a trainee works only under the supervision of a licensed dogger (WHS Regulation ss 81 and 82(1))
• First aid training for the crew, including suspension intolerance and bites and stings, with first aid provided as s 42 requires
• General construction induction training card (white card) only where the job is construction work

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 78 to 80 (management of risk of fall, specific requirements, emergency and rescue procedures)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 306C to 306J (falls in construction work, applying if the job is construction work; ss 306C and 306D do not apply to a fall from a ladder or fixed ladder)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 48 (remote or isolated work) and ss 54 and 55 (falling objects)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 208(5), 210 and 213 (guarding, operator controls able to be locked off, maintenance and inspection of plant)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 289 (meaning of construction work), s 422 (asbestos identified or assumed) and s 446 (no compressed air or high-pressure water on asbestos)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (working at heights, section 7.13; isolating energy sources, section 8.2; remote or isolated work, Appendix 11)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): s 55 (only licensed electrical workers do electrical work)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2; test and safety switch rules by kind of work: s 141 for rural industry work (s 125); ss 133 and 136 for manufacturing work as s 123 defines it, which includes maintenance and repair other than rural industry or construction work; and s 140 for construction work (electrical equipment complies with AS/NZS 3012 (Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites))
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Electrical equipment rural industry
• 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: full body harness and double lanyard with energy absorbers, and a work positioning lanyard; helmet with chin strap suited to work at height; safety boots with good grip
• Emergency arrangements for: fall arrested, wheel or tail moves, or a rod or part drops and electric shock or fire at the pump, controller or generator
• 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.