Lawn Mowing and Garden Maintenance WHS Manual

This is the lawn mowing and garden maintenance edition of the WHS Manual. It has the same chapters as the general WHS Manual, written for mowing and garden care crews, so you only need one of the manuals. It is separate from the Landscaping WHS Manual, which covers landscape construction, and from the Arborist WHS Manual, which covers tree work. It names the plant, chemicals, licences, laws and approved codes that mowing and garden care involve, and points to the SWMS, checklists and registers in our range that fit the 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 67 policies and procedures (41 that apply to every business and 26 for lawn mowing and garden maintenance 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.

What Is Included In Our Lawn Mowing and Garden Maintenance WHS Manual?

• WHS policy statement with an approval sign-off
• Why mowing, garden maintenance and roadside mowing are not construction work, and the safe work procedures the manual requires instead
• Mowers, ride-on and zero-turn mowers, tractors and slashers, with slope limits, guards and operator protection
• Brushcutters, line trimmers, hedge trimmers and blowers, with thrown objects and the public
• Pole saws and small chainsaws, with the ground-based limits on tree work
• Noise, hearing tests, vibration and manual tasks
• Herbicide spraying licences, label rules, spray records and fuel
• Overhead powerline exclusion zones and underground services
• Roadside and verge mowing, traffic management and trailers and towing
• Heat, sun, snakes, stings, fire ants, bats, client homes, dogs and working alone
• Asbestos in old fences and sheds, and silica dust beside the lawn
• A list of 45 mowing and garden SWMS, procedures, checklists and registers, and when to use each
• Part B: the full text of 67 policies and procedures, from risk, hazard and incident management to manual handling, hazardous substances, emergencies and return to work, plus 26 for lawn mowing and garden maintenance 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, which only a licensed electrical worker may do
• 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), use as the approved label directs (s 13), disposal of chemicals and packages (ss 10 and 11B)
• Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 (Qld): pest management activities, which are outside our scope (chapter 11)
• Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld): backflow prevention devices (s 71) and plumbing work, which only a licensed plumber may do
• Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld): the general environmental duty (s 319) and depositing contaminants in waters, roadside gutters and stormwater drainage (s 440ZG)
• Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 (Qld): waste, including green waste
• Biosecurity Act 2014 (Qld): weeds, and the movement of fire ants in soil, mulch and green waste
• Fire Services Act 1990 (Qld): permits to light fires, which we do not seek because we do not burn green waste
• Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld): licensing of building work, including structural landscaping such as retaining walls, paving and decks, which is outside this manual
• Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld): claims, rehabilitation and return to work
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld): driving under the influence (s 79)
• Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012 (Qld), which applies the Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland): meaning of heavy vehicle (s 6)
• 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), falling objects (ss 54 and 55), psychosocial hazards (ss 55A to 55H), noise (ss 56 to 58), hazardous manual tasks (s 60), falls (ss 78 to 80), high risk work licences (ss 81 to 85 and sch 3), plant (chapter 5, including ss 203 to 216), construction work (chapter 6, including ss 289 to 291 and 299), 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) and notifying serious electrical incidents (s 292)
• Medicines and Poisons (Pest Management Activities) Regulation 2021 (Qld)
• Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2019 (Qld)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Driver Licensing) Regulation 2021 (Qld): licence classes (sch 1)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Vehicle Standards and Safety) Regulation 2021 (Qld): load restraint (s 44)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controllers (ss 54 and 55)
• 16 Queensland approved codes of practice, named in full in the manual

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word manual (about 460 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 (67 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 67 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.