Kitchen Cabinet Installation SWMS

For cabinet installers, carpenters and kitchen fit-out contractors who install base and wall cabinets, benchtops, doors and hardware in new and renovated homes and commercial kitchens. It follows the job in order, from the site walk-through and service isolation, through unloading, setting out, fixing, hanging, cutting, benchtop installation, adhesives and hardware, to clean-up and handover. Joinery workshop manufacture and plumbing, gas and electrical connections are covered by separate SWMS.

Installing a kitchen is construction work (fitting-out, WHS Regulation s 289), but it is not high risk construction work by itself. A SWMS is legally required under s 299 only when the job includes high risk construction work (s 291), for example a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres, disturbing asbestos or work on or near energised services; for ordinary floor-level jobs this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. No item is ticked by default: tick the ones that apply to your job, including the contaminated atmosphere item if cutting or drilling stone, tile or concrete creates silica dust, as the Queensland silica code advises. Installing engineered stone benchtops is prohibited (s 529D) and is not covered.

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

What Is Covered In Our Kitchen Cabinet Installation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the install and check the site” to “Clean up, remove waste and hand over”. The hazards and controls include:

• Hitting live cables and water pipes when drilling
• Asbestos in older walls and splashbacks
• Engineered stone, whose installation is prohibited
• Silica dust from cutting natural stone, porcelain and concrete
• MDF and laminate dust from cutting
• Strains and crush injuries from heavy cabinets and stone
• Wall cabinets and rangehoods falling during hanging
• Falls from ladders and platform steps
• Saw, router and nail gun injuries
• Electric shock when wet cutting
• Fumes from adhesives and sealants
• Noise from saws and routers

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

• General construction induction training card (white card): installing a kitchen is fitting-out and so is construction work (WHS Regulation s 289)
• Trade qualification or verified competency in the tools and methods used (plunge and track saws, routers, nail guns, drills); apprentices and new workers work under an experienced installer
• No high risk work licence class applies to the work in this SWMS; a licence for the class of any forklift truck, crane or hoist used to move components applies if one is used
• Licensed plumber and gas fitter for plumbing and gas connections, and licensed electrician for hard-wired connections, testing and re-energising (Electrical Safety Act 2002 ss 18 and 55; plugging in by flexible cord and socket outlet is not electrical work, s 18(2)(a)); installers do not make these connections
• Competent person to assess dust before any cutting, drilling or grinding of material that contains crystalline silica (WHS Regulation s 529CA)
• Respirator fit test and training for each wearer, with respirators chosen to AS/NZS 1715 and AS/NZS 1716 (named in s 529B)
• Asbestos awareness training for work in older homes; any asbestos removal is done by a licensed removalist and is not covered by this SWMS
• Training in the label and SDS for each adhesive, sealant and solvent used
• First aid equipment and facilities, and trained first aiders as the work and site need (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs cannot be installed by anyone: installing them is prohibited (WHS Regulation s 529D), apart from the research, sampling and exemption cases in ss 529E and 689A

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 529A to 529J (crystalline silica and the engineered stone prohibition)
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022 (general guidance: its scope note excludes the stone benchtop industry)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021 (ladders)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos 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
• Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): electrical equipment for construction work (s 140)
• AS/NZS 3012 Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites (named in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026)
• AS/NZS 1716 and AS/NZS 1715 respiratory protective equipment (named in WHS Regulation s 529B)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Construction work (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (16 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: safety boots (steel or composite toe caps); safety glasses for all cutting, drilling and fixing, including overhead; hearing protection when sawing, routing or running a dust extractor
• Emergency arrangements for: struck a live wire or pipe when drilling, suspected asbestos disturbed and crushed or cut by a cabinet, slab or saw
• 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.