Bulldozer SWMS

Suits earthmoving, civil, land clearing and rural contractors who use a bulldozer to clear, push, rip and spread material. It covers site and services checks, exclusion zones and blind spots, loading from the float, tree and stump clearing, working on slopes and near edges, and dust, noise and fire. Excavators and other earthmoving plant need their own SWMS.

Using a bulldozer on construction work is high risk construction work because powered mobile plant moves in the work area (WHS Regulation ss 289 and 291(o)), so that item is ticked and a SWMS is required before it starts (s 299); for other earthworks, such as rural clearing that is not construction work, this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. You can also tick energised electrical installations if the machine works near power lines or services, and the contaminated atmosphere item if the work 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 Bulldozer SWMS?

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

• Workers struck or crushed in the machine’s blind spots
• Rollover on slopes, soft ground and edges
• Edges, banks and stockpiles collapsing under the machine
• Striking underground electric, gas and water services
• Contact with overhead power lines and falling trees
• Falling branches and debris while clearing trees
• Machine rolling off ramps when loading onto a float
• Hydraulic and track adjuster injuries during servicing
• Fire from dry vegetation, fuel and hot exhaust
• Disturbing fibro or asbestos in fill and soil
• Respirable crystalline silica dust and diesel exhaust
• Noise, whole-body vibration and heat

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:

• Is carried out in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant

Licences, Training and Competency

• Operator trained and assessed as competent on the bulldozer model, blade, ripper and attachments used (Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for bulldozers)
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction
• Spotters trained in the site’s hand signals or radio system, the bulldozer’s blind spots and the exclusion zone
• Competent person to assess slopes, soft ground and safe distances from edges, banks and excavations
• Trained operator for the cable and pipe locator used to check services
• Workers briefed to stop work and report suspected asbestos in fill or soil, and a competent person to sample it
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) where the dust assessment finds the work high risk
• Float operator competent in loading and unloading the machine
• Trained first aider on site

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (where the bulldozer works on a rural property; falling object protection for tree clearing)
• 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
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021 (whole-body vibration)
• 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 Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice 2021 (asbestos-contaminated soil)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (where the work is on or beside a road)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2 and underground electric lines
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (including clearing vegetation near lines)
• AS 2294.1 Earth-moving machinery – Protective structures – General (named in the Plant Code)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (17 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.