Swimming Pool Chemical Handling and Dosing SWMS

Suits pool service businesses, aquatic centres, schools and body corporate maintenance crews who handle and dose pool chemicals. It covers planning, carrying and storing chemicals, entering pump rooms, testing, mixing, dosing, servicing dosing equipment, changing chlorine gas cylinders, spills and clean-up. It does not cover hazardous chemicals in general.

Pool chemical handling and dosing is not high risk construction work by itself, so WHS Regulation s 299 requires a SWMS only if the work is part of high risk construction work. Otherwise the document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. No high risk construction work item is pre-ticked; where the job is construction work, tick the items that apply, such as confined space (a balance tank or pit), a contaminated or flammable atmosphere, chemical lines, or water with a drowning risk.

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

What Is Covered In Our Swimming Pool Chemical Handling and Dosing SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the visit and check the chemicals and the site” to “Clean up, dispose of waste, wash and pack up”. The hazards and controls include:

• Chlorine gas released by mixing incompatible chemicals
• Chlorine gas cylinder leaks and changes
• Acid and hypochlorite splashes to skin and eyes
• Fire from oxidisers stored with combustibles
• Toxic fumes in closed pump rooms
• Dropped drums, carboys and cylinders
• Pressurised dosing lines and pump failures
• Electric shock in wet plant rooms
• Swimmers contacting treated water after dosing
• Spills reaching drains and the pool
• Slips on wet pool surrounds
• Sunburn and heat illness working outdoors

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

• Training for every worker in the hazards, label and SDS of each pool chemical handled, including incompatibilities, first aid and emergency response (WHS Regulation s 39)
• Chlorine gas cylinders: only workers trained and verified competent by the gas supplier or the equipment maker change cylinders and service gas dosing equipment
• Gas detector user trained in checking, calibration and reading the instrument
• Fit testing and training for any tight-fitting respirator, and training in any escape or breathing apparatus the site provides
• Training in the site’s emergency plan, evacuation, and use of the eyewash and safety shower
• Licensed electrician for any electrical work on pumps, controllers, dosing equipment and switchboards
• First aider on site, briefed on chemical burns, eye splashes and gas inhalation
• General construction induction training card (white card) only when the work is construction work
• Site induction (no high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 applies to pool chemical handling)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (including its guidance on oxidising agents, solid pool chlorine, corrosives and gas cylinders)
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021 (pits, sumps and balance tanks)
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): safety switches (s 139)
• AS/NZS 2927 The storage and handling of liquefied chlorine gas (as named in the Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021)
• AS/NZS 3760 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment and RCDs (as named in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026)

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
• 11 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: chemical splash goggles or a face shield; chemical-resistant gloves chosen from the SDS, apron and sleeves; non-slip chemical-resistant boots
• Emergency arrangements for: chlorine gas or toxic fume release, chemical on skin or in eyes and fire or reaction in the chemical store
• 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.