Elevated Concrete Slab Pour SWMS

Suits concreting and building contractors who pour suspended slabs, decks and roof slabs over formwork. It covers the workers on the slab from the pre-pour sign-off and edge protection through placing, vibrating, screeding, formwork watch, finishing and clean-up.

Placing concrete on an elevated slab is high risk construction work because a person could fall more than 2 metres (WHS Regulation s 291(a)) and trucks, a pump or a crane move in the pour area (s 291(o)), so those items are ticked. Tick any other item the job involves, such as energised overhead lines or a road in use. Pump setup, crane lifting and formwork need their own SWMS.

New to SWMS? Read What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?

What Is Covered In Our Elevated Concrete Slab Pour SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the pour and confirm the formwork sign-off” to “Wash out, clean up and leave the slab protected”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from slab edges and through openings
• Formwork or prop failure under the weight of concrete
• Pump hose whip and boom contact
• Falling from the slab while guiding the hose
• Overloading the deck by heaping concrete
• Impalement on reinforcement and starter bars
• Objects falling onto people below
• Crane skip swinging and releasing
• Alkali burns from wet concrete
• Manual handling when raking, screeding and moving the hose
• Noise from vibrators and trowels
• Carbon monoxide from petrol trowels, heat and fatigue

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

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• High risk work licence for the concrete placing boom class for the pump operator (under the separate concrete pumping SWMS)
• Line hands trained and competent in hose handling, line pressure and clearing blockages (Concrete Pumping Code of Practice 2019)
• Dogging or a higher rigging class for anyone slinging a skip or directing a crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view, and the crane operator’s licence for the class of crane (under a separate lifting SWMS)
• Engineer, or a competent person where the formwork code allows it, to inspect the formwork and sign it off before the pour
• Formworker or competent person trained in the formwork system, to watch it during the pour
• Concreters experienced in placing, vibrating, screeding and finishing, and trained in the hazards of wet concrete
• Training in the use of fall protection, edge protection and covers on the slab
• First aid certificate for at least one worker on site
• Site induction

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Formwork Code of Practice 2016
• Concrete Pumping Code of Practice 2019
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (where a crane and skip are used)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead and underground electric line duties and Schedule 2 exclusion zones
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines

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
• 9 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: hard hat, safety glasses and high-visibility clothing; alkali-resistant gloves and waterproof safety gumboots; long-sleeve shirt and long trousers
• Emergency arrangements for: formwork movement or collapse, fall from the edge or through an opening and hose whip, pressure injury or concrete injection injury
• 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.