Landscaping WHS Manual

This is the landscaping edition of the WHS Manual. It has the same chapters as the general WHS Manual, written for landscape construction and garden maintenance crews, so you only need one of the two. It names the plant, licences, chemicals, laws and approved codes that landscaping involves, and points to the SWMS, checklists, permits and registers in our range that fit landscaping work. The cover page is ready for your business name and logo. Part A is the management system, in 23 numbered chapters. Part B holds the full text of 71 policies and procedures (41 that apply to every business and 30 for landscaping work), each on its own pages in the same editable file, so you can edit, issue and sign off each one without buying it separately.

Need the SWMS for your work? Browse landscaping SWMS, or add policies, forms and registers with the Landscaping WHS Management System.

What Is Included In Our Landscaping WHS Manual?

• WHS policy statement with an approval sign-off
• Where a SWMS is required by law for landscape construction, and the safe work procedures for garden maintenance
• Duties and roles for owners, supervisors, crew leaders and workers
• Mowing, slopes, brushcutters, hedge trimmers, chippers and the ground-based limits on chainsaw and tree work
• Skid steers, excavators, tippers, trailers and the licence rules for lifting and slinging
• Retaining walls, paving, decks and falls, excavation and trench controls
• Underground services and overhead power line exclusion zones
• Herbicide spraying licences, garden chemicals, fuel, cement and treated timber
• Silica dust from cutting pavers and stone, and asbestos in old fences and sheds
• Irrigation, plumbing and electrical connections, and who may do them
• Heat, sun, snakes and soil hazards, manual tasks, vibration and noise
• A list of 45 landscaping SWMS, procedures, checklists and registers, and when to use each
• Part B: the full text of 71 policies and procedures, from risk, hazard and incident management to manual handling, hazardous substances, emergencies and return to work, plus 30 for landscaping work

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld): primary duty of care (s 19), persons who manage or control a workplace (s 20), approved codes (ss 26A, 274 and 275), notifiable incidents (ss 35 to 39), consultation and cooperation (ss 46 to 49), the right to cease unsafe work (ss 84 to 86), no levy on workers (s 273) and the dictionary (sch 5), which defines a structure
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): the safe electrical equipment duty (s 30), electrical codes of practice (ss 44 and 45) and electrical work licences (s 55)
• Agricultural Chemicals Distribution Control Act 1966 (Qld): commercial operators’ licences (ss 16 and 16A) and ground distribution of herbicides (s 39)
• Chemical Usage (Agricultural and Veterinary) Control Act 1988 (Qld): use of registered products only from containers with an approved label (s 7), controlled and proscribed chemicals (ss 8 and 9), disposal of chemicals and packages (ss 10 and 11B)
• Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld): backflow prevention devices (s 71)
• Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld): the general environmental duty (s 319) and depositing contaminants in waters, roadside gutters and stormwater drainage (s 440ZG)
• Biosecurity Act 2014 (Qld): weeds and fire ants
• Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld): licensing of building work, including structural landscaping and irrigation work
• Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld): claims, rehabilitation and return to work
• Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012 (Qld), which applies the Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland): meaning of heavy vehicle (s 6) and the chain of responsibility (ss 26A to 26H)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): managing risks (ss 32 to 38), information, training and instruction (s 39), facilities, first aid, emergency plans and PPE (ss 40 to 47), remote or isolated work (s 48), airborne contaminants (ss 49 and 50), ignition sources and flammables (ss 52 and 53), noise (ss 56 to 58), hazardous manual tasks (s 60), confined spaces (ss 62 to 77), falls (ss 78 to 80), high risk work licences (ss 81 to 85 and sch 3), plant (chapter 5), construction work (chapter 6, including ss 289 to 291, 299, 304 to 306 and 316), hazardous chemicals (chapter 7), asbestos (chapter 8), crystalline silica (chapter 8A) and the dictionary (sch 19)
• Work Health and Safety (Codes of Practice) Notice 2022 (Qld): the list of approved codes of practice
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead electric lines (ss 10 to 15 and sch 2), underground electric lines (ss 14 and 15), safety switches (s 139), construction work (s 140) and notifying serious electrical incidents (s 292)
• Chemical Usage (Agricultural and Veterinary) Control Regulation 2017 (Qld)
• Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2019 (Qld): work that is not regulated plumbing work (sch 3)
• Queensland Building and Construction Commission Regulation 2018 (Qld)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controllers (ss 51, 54 and 55)
• 23 Queensland approved codes of practice, named in full in the manual

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word manual (468 pages), A4 portrait, with a cover page ready for your business name and logo, a contents list, Part A (23 numbered chapters) and Part B (71 policies and procedures)
• Business details and document control typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• A WHS policy statement with an approval sign-off
• Roles, procedures, a risk matrix, record-keeping periods, definitions and references
• Part B: the full text of 71 policies and procedures, each starting on a new page
• Links by name to the matching SWMS, forms and registers in our range

Review it and adjust it to suit your business, your sites and the way your team works, and talk it through with your workers. If you have any trouble downloading this template, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading.