Construction Site Amenities Cleaning SWMS

Suits cleaning contractors who service site amenities on construction projects. It follows the visit from planning the cleaning times and site induction through moving around an active site, taking the amenity out of service, removing sanitary waste and sharps, cleaning toilets and showers with chemicals, lunch room and shed cleaning, mopping, restocking soap, towels and drinking water, and reporting defects. Portable toilet servicing, the final builders clean and placing site sheds need their own SWMS.

Cleaning and restocking site amenities is not itself construction work: it is not the construction, alteration, repair or maintenance of a structure, and cleaning the amenity buildings is at most maintenance of a minor nature, which WHS Regulation s 289(3)(d) excludes. So no high risk construction work item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (s 299). The amenities themselves are the principal contractor’s duty under s 315A and Schedule 5A. If your crew also does construction work on the project, such as removing debris or a builders clean, tick the items that apply to that work.

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

What Is Covered In Our Construction Site Amenities Cleaning SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the clean and the site visit” to “Remove waste, wash up and report defects”. The hazards and controls include:

• Plant and vehicles moving on an active site
• Needle sticks and sharps in toilets and bins
• Body fluids and infection risk
• Toilet cleaners and bleach burns
• Toxic gas from mixing products
• Cleaning chemicals near food
• Wet floors and slips
• Mop buckets and heavy bins
• Urns, kettles and electrical appliances
• Soap, water and toilet paper restocking
• Working alone on a site
• Defects left unreported

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

• Cleaner trained in the hazards of the cleaning chemicals used and in the SDS controls (WHS Regulation s 39 duty to train and instruct)
• Cleaner trained in sharps handling, body fluid precautions and what to do after a needle stick or splash
• Principal contractor’s site induction completed before entering, and a general construction induction training card (white card) where the site’s entry rules require one
• No high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation covers this work
• First aid equipment and facilities, and the person appointed as the job’s first aider (WHS Regulation s 42); a cleaner working alone has a first aid kit in the vehicle and a check-in arrangement

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) s 315A and Schedule 5A: amenities on a construction project
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 289 and 291: construction work and high risk construction work
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 328, 341, 344, 346, 351 and 354: hazardous chemicals
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 60: hazardous manual tasks
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 48: remote or isolated work
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals 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

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
• 9 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 non-slip soles; hard hat and high-visibility clothing as the site requires; puncture-resistant gloves over disposable gloves for sharps and waste
• Emergency arrangements for: needle stick or body fluid splash, chemical in the eye and toxic gas after mixing products
• 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.