Pest Control SWMS

Suits pest management businesses that treat homes, shops and grounds with sprays, dusts, gels, foams and baits, and drill and inject slabs for termites. It follows the job from planning the treatment and mixing products to protecting occupants, working in roof voids and sub-floors, applying products and cleaning up. It does not cover general chemical handling or confined space entry, which need separate SWMS.

Pest control is not high risk construction work by itself, so a SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 only when the job includes high risk construction work (for example a risk of falling more than 2 metres through a ceiling, or work on or near energised electrical services); if drilling concrete or masonry creates silica dust, tick the contaminated atmosphere item, as the Queensland silica code advises; otherwise it works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment.

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 Pest Control SWMS?

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

• Pesticide splashes, fumes and spray drift
• Mixing and carrying concentrates
• Occupants, children and pets entering treated areas
• Falls from ladders and through ceilings
• Heat, dust and droppings in roof voids
• Snakes, spiders and stinging insects
• Fumes and poor air in sub-floor spaces
• Live wiring in roof voids and walls
• Drilling into services and slab tendons
• Silica dust from drilling concrete and brick
• Striking underground services when trenching
• Baits eaten by children, pets or wildlife
• Asbestos in older buildings

High Risk Construction Work

No high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this work is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick the items that apply to your job, such as a fall risk of more than 2 metres or work where powered mobile plant is moving.

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) where the treatment is carried out as construction work or on a construction site
• Queensland pest management licence for each technician who carries out a pest management activity for a business (Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 s 44: the activity must be carried out in the authorised way), with the class that covers timber pests for termite work; termite management (chemical) work also needs the termite management licence under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Regulation 2018 sch 2 pt 56, which has no value exemption (sch 1 item 2(b))
• Training for every technician in the hazards and safe use of the products applied: label, SDS, mixing, application methods, PPE, spill clean-up and re-entry times, with records kept
• Respirator fit testing and training for each technician who may need a tight-fitting respirator
• Trained person to operate the cable and pipe locator and mark underground services
• Training in safe ladder use and in entering roof voids and sub-floors, including the stop rule for confined spaces
• Awareness training in recognising materials that may contain asbestos
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) where the dust assessment finds the drilling high risk
• First aid equipment, facilities and an adequate number of first aiders with current first aid training (or access to them), as the first aid assessment shows the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42); the training includes response to chemical exposure, stings, bites and heat illness
• 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 Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021 (trenching around buildings)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead and underground electric lines, exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Dangerous Goods) Regulation 2018 (Qld): carrying chemicals in the work vehicle
• AS/NZS 1716:2012 (Respiratory protective devices) and AS/NZS 1715:2009 (Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective equipment), as named in WHS Regulation s 529B
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (22 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.