Ride-On Mower SWMS

For grounds maintenance contractors, councils, caretakers, farmers and property teams who run ride-on mowers and tractor slashers over lawns, parks, sports fields and paddocks. It follows the job from the walk-through and pre-start check through loading, set-up, mowing, slopes and banks, slashing and clearing blockages to parking, and it covers roll-over protection as the WHS Regulation sets it out and slasher propping as the approved Rural Plant Code describes it. Push mowers, steep embankments and general garden maintenance are not covered.

Mowing and slashing are not construction work by themselves, so a SWMS is not legally required for them (WHS Regulation s 299 applies only to high risk construction work); the document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment, and as a SWMS when the mowing is site preparation connected with construction work (s 289(2)(g)) and a s 291 item applies, such as powered mobile plant moving in the area (s 291(o)).

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 Ride-On Mower SWMS?

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

• Rollover on slopes, banks, edges and soft ground
• Stones and objects thrown by blades and slashers
• Contact with blades and PTO shafts
• Run-over when starting from the ground, falling from the seat or carrying passengers
• Collisions with people, vehicles and fences, and reversing
• Slasher or deck dropping on a person working under it
• Hidden rocks, stumps, holes, wire and drains
• Traffic when mowing or slashing beside roads
• Noise and whole-body vibration
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Fire from fuel and hot engines in dry grass
• Heat, sun, dust, snakes and stings
• Machine rolling off ramps when loading

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

• Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for ride-on mowers or tractors with slashers; operators must still be trained and assessed as competent
• Operators trained and assessed as competent on the make and model: starting and stopping, controls, brakes, blade or PTO engagement, slope limits, ROPS and seatbelt, and emergency procedures (WHS Regulation s 39)
• Practical on-the-job training for the person who connects a slasher to the tractor PTO
• Young workers operate ride-on mowers and tractors only once they have the skill and training for the machine, and with supervision (Children and Young Workers Code of Practice 2006)
• Accredited traffic controllers where traffic is directed on or beside a road
• An adequate number of people trained in first aid, including for snake bite and severe allergic reactions (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Site induction, and the client’s or property manager’s access and safety rules
• General construction induction training card (white card) only if the mowing or slashing is part of construction work, such as site preparation for a build

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 206 to 216 (plant, powered mobile plant and roll-over protection on tractors), ss 56 to 58 (noise) and s 60 (hazardous manual tasks)
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (outdoor work, heat, UV and remote or isolated work)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Children and Young Workers Code of Practice 2006
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (mowing beside roads)
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (fuel)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controller accreditation
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones, Schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• AS 1636 Tractors – Roll-over protective structures, criteria and tests (as named in the Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024, which also names other accepted ROPS standards)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (19 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.