Wall Cladding Installation SWMS

Suits cladding contractors, builders and renovators who fix fibre cement, timber, metal and composite panels to the outside of buildings. It follows the job in order, from planning and checking an older wall for asbestos to working from a scaffold or elevating work platform, handling panels in wind, cutting, fixing and packing up. Scaffold erection and general silica dust control are left to separate SWMS.

Cladding is high risk construction work when a person could fall more than 2 metres (WHS Regulation s 291(a)), which is the item ticked on the form; you can also tick the items the job involves, such as energised electrical installations or services near overhead lines, powered mobile plant moving nearby, or the contaminated atmosphere item when cutting fibre cement creates silica dust, as the Queensland silica code advises.

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 Wall Cladding Installation SWMS?

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

• Falls from scaffold edges and elevating work platforms
• Scaffold ties and guardrails removed or moved to reach the wall
• Panels, tools and offcuts falling on people below
• Panels acting as sails in wind
• Cutting dust, including respirable crystalline silica from fibre cement
• Contact with overhead power lines and service lines
• Disturbing asbestos in older walls and eaves
• Elevating work platform overturning and crush points
• Heavy panel handling and delivery vehicles
• Nail gun, screw gun and saw injuries
• Cuts from sheet edges and metal flashings
• Noise, sun and heat on exposed walls
• Sealant and adhesive fumes and skin contact

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) for construction work
• Site induction, including the site’s scaffold, elevating work platform and falling object rules
• High risk work licence in the scaffolding class that matches the scaffold, held by whoever erects, alters or dismantles it where a person or object could fall more than 4 m; cladding workers do not alter the scaffold
• Competent person to inspect the scaffold and give written confirmation that it is complete, for a suspended, cantilevered, spur or hung scaffold or any other scaffold from which a person or thing could fall more than 4 m
• High risk work licence for the boom-type elevating work platform class where the boom length is 11 m or more (trainees only under a licence holder’s supervision), and training on the make and type of any elevating work platform used
• High risk work licence for the class of any forklift truck, vehicle loading crane (10 metre tonnes or more) or hoist used to move panel packs, and the dogging class or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3) for anyone who slings loads or directs a plant operator in the movement of a load when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Training in the use of nail guns, saws and panel lifting equipment, with competency verified before working unsupervised
• Competent person to identify asbestos in an older building before cladding work starts
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) for workers where the silica assessment finds the cutting high risk

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• 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 the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (older buildings)
• 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 power line exclusion zones
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Elevating work platforms (guidance)
• AS/NZS 60335.2.69:2017 (Household and similar electrical appliances – Safety – Particular requirements for wet and dry vacuum cleaners, including power brush, for industrial and commercial use), as named in the approved silica code
• Queensland Development Code part 2.5: aluminium composite panels with a polyethylene core of more than 30 per cent by mass, and expanded polystyrene external insulation and render systems, are banned on new buildings (Department of Housing and Public Works, ‘Managing combustible cladding in Queensland’)
• 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 (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.