Fibreglass Pool Installation SWMS

Suits pool builders, excavation contractors and landscapers who excavate for and install fibreglass pool shells. It covers site planning, securing the pit, services and overhead lines, excavating, bedding, crane lifting and placing the shell, backfilling and filling, plumbing and pack-up. Crane operation and pool excavation on its own are covered by separate SWMS.

Installing a fibreglass pool is construction work and is high risk when the pit is deeper than 1.5 metres (WHS Regulation s 291(g)) or when powered mobile plant moves in the work area (s 291(o)); those items are ticked. Untick the 1.5 metre item if your pit is never deeper than that. Tick the energised electrical installations or services item (s 291(k)) if there are underground or overhead electrical services at the site, and tick any other item the job involves, such as a road in use or a risk of drowning in a flooded pit.

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 Fibreglass Pool 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:

• Pit wall collapse
• Workers or children falling into the open pit
• Excavator rolling or striking workers
• Shell dropping from the sling during the crane lift
• Crane overturning or striking overhead lines
• Striking underground electrical, gas and water services
• Crushing between the shell and the pit wall
• Shell movement during backfilling and filling
• Unstable ground near footings and neighbouring structures
• Manual handling of pipes, pavers and bags
• Heat, sun and fatigue
• Fire during plant refuelling

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 in or near a shaft or trench with an excavated depth greater than 1.5m, or a tunnel
• 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
• Crane operator with the high risk work licence class Schedule 3 requires for the crane used (a mobile crane class, or the vehicle loading crane class for a crane truck of 10 metre tonnes or more; the crane supplier confirms which applies)
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class, for anyone who slings the shell or directs the crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Excavator operator trained and assessed as competent on the machine (no high risk work licence class applies to operating an excavator)
• Competent person to check the pit walls and support; geotechnical or structural engineer where the pit is near footings or retaining walls
• Spotter briefed on hand signals and exclusion zones
• Site induction

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024
• 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 Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace 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): overhead and underground electric lines, exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines

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.