Material Lifter and Duct Lifter SWMS

Suits ductwork installers, ceiling and plasterboard fixers and service trades who raise loads to ceilings with a hand-winch lifter. It follows the job from planning the lift and inspecting the winch, cable and stand through setting up on the floor, loading, raising, fixing at the ceiling, keeping people out from beneath the load, and lowering and packing up. Hoists, vacuum lifters and ductwork fixing in general need their own SWMS.

Fitting out a building with ductwork, ceilings and services is construction work (WHS Regulation s 289(1)), but a hand-winch lifter on its own is not an item in WHS Regulation s 291, so no item is pre-ticked. Tick the items that apply to your job: a fall of more than 2 metres, energised electrical installations or services, or work in or beside a road in use. A SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (s 299).

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

What Is Covered In Our Material Lifter and Duct Lifter SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the lift and check the work area” to “Store, clean up and pack up”. The hazards and controls include:

• Load dropping from the lifter
• People working beneath a raised load
• Winch handle spinning back
• Cable, brake and ratchet failure
• Lifter tipping on soft or sloping floors
• Overloading the lifter at height and reach
• Falls while fixing the load at the ceiling
• Live cables and asbestos above the ceiling
• Drilling dust from concrete and plasterboard
• Cuts and crush injuries from sheet metal and panels
• Manual handling of the lifter and the load

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

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, such as fitting out a building with ductwork, ceilings and services
• Worker trained and assessed as competent in the lifter model in use, including its winch, brake, stand and attachments, to the maker’s operating instructions (WHS Regulation s 39 information, training and instruction)
• No high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation covers a hand-winch lifter standing on the floor: it is neither a materials hoist (a car, bucket or platform cantilevered from and travelling outside the face of a structure) nor a personnel and materials hoist (a cantilever hoist, a tower hoist or several winches configured to operate as a hoist)
• Loads are carried on the lifter’s own cradle, forks, bracket or straps; a person who slings a load or selects slinging gear is doing dogging work (Schedule 19) and holds the dogging high risk work licence (Schedule 3 item 4)
• Workers who climb a ladder or work from a platform trained in its safe use; a high risk work licence is needed for a boom-type elevating work platform only where its boom length is 11 m or more (Schedule 3 item 21)
• Licensed electrical worker for any work on cables, switchboards or equipment found in the ceiling space (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• First aid equipment and facilities, and the person appointed as the job’s first aider (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Site induction

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): roof space work, ss 31 to 36

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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; hard hat; safety glasses; gloves suited to sheet metal edges, wire rope and the winch handle
• Emergency arrangements for: load or lifter tipping or the winch failing, person struck or trapped by a load and contact with a live cable in the ceiling
• 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.