Ground Level Window Cleaning SWMS

Suits window cleaners, cleaning contractors and facility teams who clean shopfront, office and home windows from the ground with squeegees, scrubbers and extension poles. It follows the job in order: surveying the site, setting up, handling products, pedestrians and vehicles, washing, scraping, using poles, finishing, heat and lone work, and packing up. Water-fed pole systems and ladder work have their own SWMS.

Cleaning windows from the ground is generally not construction work at all (the WHS Regulation s 289 does not list cleaning), and it is not itself high risk construction work, so no high risk item is ticked. A SWMS is legally required under s 299 only when the work is high risk construction work, for example a builder’s clean beside a road in use by traffic or near energised services; otherwise this 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 Ground Level Window Cleaning SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Survey the site and plan the cleaning” to “Pack up, dispose of dirty water and store the equipment”. The hazards and controls include:

• Slips on wet paving and entry mats
• Being struck by vehicles in car parks and driveways
• Contact between poles and overhead power lines
• Splashes of acid and alkaline cleaners
• Toxic gas from mixing incompatible products
• Unlabelled decanted bottles
• Cuts from scrapers and broken glass
• Strains from reaching, scrubbing and carrying
• Dermatitis from wet work
• Members of the public walking into the work area
• Heat, sun and dehydration
• Working alone without a way to raise the alarm

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

• Site or client induction, and the general construction induction training card (white card) where the cleaning is construction work, for example on a building site
• Training or instruction in squeegee, scrubber and extension pole technique, including how to keep the body in a neutral posture
• Instruction in the cleaning products used, their safety data sheets, correct dilution and what must never be mixed
• Briefing on overhead power lines near the work and on how far poles must stay from them
• No high risk work licence class applies to ground level window cleaning
• Trained first aider available (one in the team or on site)

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 341, 342 and 344 (labelling, decanted containers and safety data sheets)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 351 and 354 (managing chemical risks and chemical reactions)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 60 (hazardous manual tasks)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 40, 41 and 48 (work environment, heat, drinking water, remote or isolated work)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 36 and 44 (hierarchy of control, personal protective equipment)
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021 (decanted products)
• 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
• Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2 (ss 10, 11 and 13)
• 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 (14 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 10 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 or shoes with sealed soles; chemical-resistant gloves as the SDS states, and cut-resistant gloves when using scrapers or handling broken glass
• Emergency arrangements for: chemical in the eyes or on the skin and product mixed in error (gas smell, coughing)
• 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. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.

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