Road Sign and Post Installation SWMS

Suits civil, traffic and sign installation crews who dig holes, drive posts and fix signs on or beside roads in use. It follows the job from services information, traffic arrangements and locating, through digging and driving posts to EWP work, concrete and pack-up. Traffic control set-up is covered by a separate SWMS.

Pre-ticked: work near energised underground electric services, work beside a road in use, and powered mobile plant movement. Tick the falls item (risk of falling more than 2 m) as well if an EWP platform works above 2 m, and the gas or chemical, fuel and refrigerant line items if the services information shows those lines near a post hole.

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 Road Sign and Post 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:

• Striking underground services when digging
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Workers struck by passing vehicles
• Reversing trucks and plant movement
• Rotating auger and excavator hazards
• Post driver strikes and crush injuries
• Open post holes
• Strains lifting posts and signs
• Cuts from sheet metal edges
• Falls and overturn when using an EWP
• Cement burns and dust
• Wind blowing signs over

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:

• Is carried out on or near energised electrical installations or services
• Is carried out on, in or adjacent to a road, railway, shipping lane or other traffic corridor that is in use by traffic other than pedestrians
• 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 on or beside a road
• Working in Proximity to Traffic training for all workers on or next to a road, as the Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 recommends
• Current driver licence for the class of truck driven
• Operator competency for the post driver, auger or excavator used, verified by the supervisor
• High risk work licence for a boom-type elevating work platform where the boom length is 11 metres or more (WHS Regulation Schedule 3 item 21); operator training for smaller EWPs
• Training and competence in the services locator, and in working near underground and overhead electric lines
• Only an accredited traffic controller may direct traffic; use a separate SWMS for traffic control (Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 ss 51, 54, 55)
• Site induction

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): s 304 (underground essential services information) and s 305 (managing risks of excavation work)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controllers, sections 51 to 55
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 14 and 15 (underground electric lines)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and sch 2 (overhead power line exclusion zones and unsafe distances)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices Part 3 (MUTCD Part 3)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (12 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.