Formwork SWMS

For formwork contractors, carpenters and builders who erect and strip formwork for footings, slabs, walls and columns. It follows the job in order, from checking the engineer’s drawings and deliveries to the deck and leading edge, wall and column forms, pre-pour sign-off, stripping and load-out, and is built on the approved Queensland Formwork Code of Practice.

Formwork is not on the high risk construction work list by itself: this template ticks the fall of more than 2 metres item (WHS Regulation s 291(a)) because deck, edge and tall wall-form work is covered, so a SWMS is required before that work starts (s 299). For footing and ground-level forms only, untick it and use the document as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment; tick any other s 291 item that applies on the job, such as tilt-up or precast concrete, powered mobile plant movement, or the contaminated atmosphere item (s 291(l)) when chipping, grinding or cutting concrete creates silica dust, because the approved Queensland silica code treats construction work with a risk of silica exposure as work in an area that may have a contaminated atmosphere.

Learn More: What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?
Have you ever been asked to provide a SWMS on a project in Queensland? Read our guide to what a Safe Work Method Statement is and when you need one.

What Is Covered In Our Formwork SWMS?

The job steps run in the order the work is done, from pre-start checks to finishing up. The hazards and controls include:

• Formwork collapse before, during and after the pour
• Falls from the deck, leading edge and penetrations
• Falling objects onto people below
• Overloading the deck with stacked materials
• Wall and column forms blown over or dropped in lifts
• Unsafe stripping and drop stripping
• Crane, forklift and delivery truck movements
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Manual handling of ply, props and frames
• Nail gun, saw and tool injuries
• Release agent and cement contact
• Exposed reinforcing bars and protruding nails

High Risk Construction Work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card)
• Site induction, including the formwork documents, delivery and crane rules, exclusion zones and falling object controls
• Formworkers trained in the formwork system in use, its erection and dismantling instructions, and the emergency procedures (the approved Formwork Code of Practice 2016 expects system-specific training)
• Competent person for the formwork: able to read formwork drawings and manage the risks of erecting, altering and dismantling formwork, to inspect it, complete the construction checklist and sign off where the code allows
• Engineer, as the Formwork Code of Practice 2016 defines it (a registered professional engineer under the Professional Engineers Act 2002 who is competent for the task), for design and certification, variations, bracing and lifting points, and the pre-pour sign-off of larger forms
• Scaffolding licence of the matching class for any perimeter or bracket scaffold from which a person or object could fall more than 4 m (erected under a separate scaffold SWMS)
• High risk work licence for the class of any crane, forklift truck or vehicle loading crane (10 metre tonnes or more) lifting formwork; dogging or a higher rigging class for anyone slinging a load or directing a plant operator when the load is out of the operator’s view

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Formwork Code of Practice 2016
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 (perimeter scaffolds and formwork support systems)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021 (footing trenches)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (where a crane lifts forms)
• Tower Crane Code of Practice 2017 (where a tower crane lifts forms)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022 (cleaning concrete off forms)
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2
• AS 3610 Formwork for concrete (named in the Formwork Code of Practice 2016)
• AS 3600 Concrete structures (named in the Formwork Code of Practice 2016)
• AS 6669 Plywood – Formwork (named in the Formwork Code of Practice 2016, for evidence that formply meets the standard)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (20 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages
• Business, client, job and document details typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• The high risk construction work checklist, worded as WHS Regulation s 291, and the construction project question (s 292)
• A worker and health and safety representative consultation record
• Qualifications, plant, PPE, hazardous chemicals, safety equipment, permits, references and emergency arrangements filled in for this work
• A 5 x 5 risk matrix, and job steps with initial and residual risk scores and the people responsible
• Implementing, monitoring and review requirements, an additional controls log, revision history and a worker sign-on sheet

Review and adjust it for your site, your plant and the way your crew does the job, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. If you have any trouble downloading this SWMS, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.