Structural Steel Beam and Lintel Installation SWMS

Suits builders, steel fixers and carpenters who install steel beams, posts and lintels in houses and small buildings. It follows the work from checking the engineer’s design and propping the structure to lifting, bearing, fixing and transferring the load, with lifting devices and cranes covered. Removing load-bearing walls and structural steel erection on large projects are covered by separate SWMS.

Falls of more than 2 metres and structural alterations or repairs that need temporary support to prevent collapse are high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 291(a) and (e)), so those items are ticked. Forming an opening in, or removing, a load-bearing wall is demolition work needing a demolition licence and its own SWMS, so tick the demolition item only if your job includes it. Tick the others the job involves, such as energised electrical installations or services, asbestos disturbance, or powered mobile plant.

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 Structural Steel Beam and Lintel 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:

• Structure collapsing without temporary props
• Beam or lintel dropped during lifting
• Crush injuries at bearings and pinch points
• Crane or lifting device overload
• Falls from platforms and trestles
• Falling tools and components
• Props removed too early
• Asbestos in existing buildings
• Silica dust from cutting and drilling masonry
• Welding fume and fire from hot work
• Manual handling of heavy members
• Hidden services in walls and ceilings

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
• Involves structural alterations or repairs that require temporary support to prevent collapse

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Engineer’s design and drawings for each beam, lintel, bearing, post and prop arrangement, with a competent person to check the work against them
• Competent person who inspects the temporary props and supervises installation and the transfer of load
• Anyone who slings a beam or directs a crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view holds a dogging licence or a higher rigging class; rigging work involving structural steel erection is in the basic rigging class (Schedule 3 item 5(2)(a)), so hold that class or higher if the lifting is rigging work as defined in Schedule 19
• Crane operator: high risk work licence for the class of crane used, for a mobile crane the non-slewing (more than 3 t) or slewing class for its capacity (Schedule 3 items 14 to 18)
• Boom-type elevating work platform of 11 m boom length or more: high risk work licence (Schedule 3 item 21)
• Training in the identification and safe handling of asbestos for workers the business reasonably believes may be involved in asbestos removal or asbestos-related work (WHS Regulation s 445)
• Welder qualified for the work where steel is welded on site

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Steel Construction Advisory Standard 2004 (lifting steelwork, beam stability and temporary support)
• Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (where a crane is used)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Welding Processes Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead electric lines, exclusion zones in schedule 2

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 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.