Personnel and Materials Hoist Operation SWMS

For builders, hoist hire companies and trade contractors whose workers operate or ride personnel and materials hoists, or send materials up them, on building sites. It follows the job from planning the use of the hoist and the daily inspection through landing set-up, loading, travel and getting on and off at landings to a stuck car, power, wind and shut-down. Erecting, climbing and dismantling the hoist are not covered and need a separate SWMS.

Operating a hoist on a construction site is high risk construction work when a person could fall more than 2 metres at an upper landing (WHS Regulation ss 289, 291(a) and 299), so that item is ticked and a SWMS is required before the work starts; away from construction work this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. You can also tick energised electrical installations when the hoist, mast or its materials are near overhead lines, and powered mobile plant when delivery vehicles or other plant move near the base.

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 Personnel and Materials Hoist Operation SWMS?

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

• Overloading the car or carrying people in a materials hoist
• Car or landing gates left open or interlocks bypassed
• Falls from landings and loading platforms
• Crush between the car, the landing and the structure
• People struck by the car or falling objects at the base
• Stuck car and unplanned exits between levels
• Untrained or unauthorised operation
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Electric shock from the hoist supply and leads
• High wind and lightning
• Strains and hand injuries loading materials
• Vehicles and plant at the hoist base
• Defective hoist used after a missed inspection

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

• High risk work licence in the ‘Personnel and materials hoist’ class (Schedule 3 item 20: use of a personnel and materials hoist, or of a materials hoist) for anyone who operates a personnel and materials hoist, including a rider who presses a control in the car; passengers who only ride are not carrying out high risk work and need no licence; the ‘Materials hoist’ class (item 19: use of a materials hoist) covers a materials hoist only, which carries things and substances and never people (Schedule 19)
• Operator trained and verified as competent on the make and model of hoist, including its controls, emergency stop, emergency lowering and load and passenger limits
• Landing and base workers trained in the signals, the gate and interlock rules, the loading limits and the emergency procedure
• Erecting, climbing, altering and dismantling the hoist are outside this SWMS and need a separate SWMS; setting up or dismantling a hoist is rigging work (Schedule 19; Schedule 3 item 5 basic rigging covers hoists and item 6 adds hoists with jibs and self-climbing hoists), and a rigger with the qualifying licence who only sets up or dismantles a hoist does not need the operator class (WHS Regulation s 82(4))
• Licensed electrician to connect the hoist to its supply and to carry out electrical repairs (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• Competent person to inspect, maintain and test the hoist to the maker’s recommendations and to sign it back into service after a repair
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders as the work and site need, including someone who knows the hoist rescue plan (WHS Regulation s 42)
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and a site induction that covers the hoist rules

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
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces 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
• Formwork Code of Practice 2016 (section 3.2.1: emergency access where a man and material hoist is available)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): s 140 for construction work, and the overhead electric line exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)

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.