Ladder Use SWMS

Suits any trade that uses step, extension or platform ladders for access or short, light tasks. It follows the use of a ladder in order, from deciding whether a ladder is the right method through choosing, inspecting, setting up, climbing, working from and storing it, using the Queensland construction ladder rules for single and extension ladders and the approved Falls Code for step and platform ladders. Scaffolds and elevating work platforms have their own SWMS.

Ladder work is not high risk construction work by itself. A SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 only when the ladder work is construction work that involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres (s 291(a)) or another high risk item, so tick the fall item (and any other item) that applies to your job; testing, maintenance or repair of a minor nature is not construction work (s 289(3)(d)), and for lower ladder work and ladder work outside construction this document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment.

New to SWMS? Read What is a safe work method statement?

What is covered in our ladder use SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Decide whether a ladder is the right way to do the job” to “Pack up, clean and store the ladder”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from single, extension, step and platform ladders
• Ladder base or top slipping, tipping or sliding
• Overreaching and loss of balance on the ladder
• Damaged, overloaded or wrongly rated ladders
• Wrong ladder type or length for the job
• Electric shock from conductive ladders and overhead power lines
• Ladders struck by doors, vehicles and people
• Strains from carrying and raising long ladders
• Tools and materials falling onto people below
• Wind, rain and slippery rungs
• Ladders falling from vehicle racks or storage

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

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction, including the site’s rules for ladders
• Training in how to inspect, set up and use the types of ladder on the job (single, extension, step and platform ladders) before anyone uses one unsupervised
• Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for using a ladder
• Competent person to inspect ladders in line with the manufacturer’s recommendations and to repair or condemn faulty ones
• An adequate number of workers trained in first aid (WHS Regulation s 42)

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
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• AS/NZS 1892 (set): Portable ladders, including part 5, Selection, safe use and care (named in the Falls Code)

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (18 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages. Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 11 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: non-slip safety boots, cleaned of mud and oil before climbing; hard hat where there is overhead work or a falling object risk, for the worker and for anyone who has to be near the base
• Emergency arrangements for: fall from a ladder, ladder touches a power line or live equipment and ladder struck, slipping or damaged while in use
• 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.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed October 2026.