Aerial Telecommunications Cable Installation SWMS

For telecommunications installers and cabling contractors who run aerial cable on poles. It follows the work in order, from the route and pole checks through working near power lines, climbing or using an EWP, running out and tensioning cable to fixing, joint enclosures and clearing the site. Underground pit and conduit work and overhead power line work have their own templates.

Tick the road corridor item (WHS Regulation s 291(n)) on the form as well when the route crosses or runs beside a road in use by traffic, and the powered mobile plant item (s 291(o)) when an EWP or cable truck moves in the work area; tick the telecommunication tower item (s 291(b)) only if the structure is a tower or mast, because the Regulation does not define the term.

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 Aerial Telecommunications Cable Installation SWMS?

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

• Falls from poles and EWP platforms
• Poles failing under the climber or the cable load
• Contact with nearby power lines
• Cable, strand or lashing wire reaching a power line
• Cable tension, snap-back and overloaded poles
• EWP overturning or striking a pole or line
• Vehicles and pedestrians beside the work
• Cable drums crushing a worker
• Cable across roads and footpaths
• Glass fibre offcuts in skin and eyes
• Rescue of a person stranded at height

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 on or near energised electrical installations or services

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Pole climbers trained and assessed as competent in pole climbing, the work positioning and fall arrest equipment used, and pole-top rescue (no high risk work licence class covers pole climbing)
• Written authority from the pole owner, and from the electricity entity for any pole that is part of its works, before anyone climbs a pole or a ladder fixed to it
• Boom-type EWP high risk work licence for a boom length of 11 m or more; documented training and verified competence for smaller EWPs
• Ground person trained to use the EWP ground controls and emergency lowering
• Safety observer trained for the role where work is near power lines
• Competent person to inspect poles, approve anchorage points and check climbing equipment
• Any authority, accreditation or cabling registration the network owner or pole owner requires (confirm what applies)
• Trained traffic controllers where traffic control is needed on or beside a road
• CPR and first aid training, and training in the rescue plan, for the whole crew

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 78 to 80 and 306C to 306I (falls), s 48 (remote or isolated work)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (work on or beside a road)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2 (exclusion zones for overhead electric lines)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): s 309 (climbing poles of an electricity entity) and s 292 (serious electrical incidents and dangerous electrical events)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• AS/NZS 1891.4 Industrial fall-arrest systems and devices – Part 4: Selection, use and maintenance (named in the Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021)
• AS 2550.10 Cranes, hoists and winches – Safe use – Part 10: Mobile elevating work platforms (named in the Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Elevating work platforms (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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.