Fencing SWMS

Suits fencing contractors, builders and landscapers who install or remove residential, commercial and temporary fences. It follows the job from checking the fence line, buried services and overhead lines through removing old fences, digging post holes by hand, concreting posts, fixing panels and gates, to cleaning up. It does not cover powered post hole digger operation, which needs a separate SWMS, or pool fence certification.

Fencing is not high risk construction work by itself. A SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 only when the work is high risk construction work, for example digging post holes close to underground electricity, gas or fuel lines or working near overhead power lines (s 291(i), (j) and (k)), or working in or near a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 metres (s 291(g)); if cutting or 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 fencing SWMS?

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

• Striking underground electricity, gas and water services
• Posts, metal rails and ladders touching overhead lines
• Asbestos in old fibro fences
• Whip-back from cutting tensioned wire
• Back and shoulder strain from digging and lifting
• Open post holes and falls into holes
• Wet cement burns and cement dust
• Posts and panels falling before concrete sets
• Cuts and kickback from saws and grinders
• Dust from treated timber, concrete and masonry
• Large panels blown over in wind
• Pedestrians and traffic near temporary fencing
• Heat and sun exposure

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) for construction work
• Site induction
• Experienced fencer in charge of each crew; new workers work under supervision
• Trained person to operate the cable and pipe locator and mark underground services
• Operators of any powered post hole digger, auger or other powered mobile plant assessed as competent on the machine and attachment (Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for earthmoving machinery or augers); that work is covered by separate SWMS
• Asbestos: more than 10 m2 of non-friable asbestos, such as fibro fence sheets, is removed by the holder of a class B or class A asbestos removal licence; 10 m2 or less by a competent person trained under WHS Regulation s 445 (removal is not covered by this SWMS)
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) where the dust assessment finds the cutting or drilling high risk
• Nail gun and power tool training for each operator
• 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)

Legislation and codes of practice referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021 (post holes, trenches and underground services)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021 (ladders)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (fences on or beside a road or footpath)
• 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
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Construction work (guidance)
• 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

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (21 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.