Fire Hydrant and Hose Reel Installation SWMS

Suits fire services and civil contractors who install underground hydrant mains, hydrants and hose reels on commercial and industrial sites. It follows the job from services location and trenching through pipe laying, hose reel fit-out, flushing and pressure tests, backfill and handover. Sprinkler systems are covered by a separate SWMS.

Powered mobile plant working in the area is inherent to hydrant main work, so that item is ticked. Tick the other items the job involves: a trench deeper than 1.5 metres, a fall of more than 2 metres, asbestos that could be disturbed, energised electrical installations or services, gas or fuel lines, a road in use, and the contaminated atmosphere item when dust is created.

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 Fire Hydrant and Hose Reel 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
• Trench collapse
• Falling into open trenches
• Excavator and truck movements near workers
• Crushing by lifted pipe and valves
• Manual handling of heavy fittings
• Dust from cutting concrete and pipe
• Pipework failing under test pressure
• Wet cement burns
• Falls and ceiling hazards when fitting hose reels
• Traffic near roadside work
• Asbestos in older mains and linings

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 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, and site induction
• Fire protection or plumbing licence or endorsement as required by Queensland law for the work being done; the employer checks it before work starts
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (WHS Regulation schedule 3), for slinging loads or directing a plant operator when the load is out of the operator’s view
• Excavator and plant operators trained and assessed as competent on the machine (no high risk work licence class applies to operating an excavator)
• Competent person to inspect the trench, shoring and plant daily
• Accredited traffic controllers where traffic control is needed on or beside a road (Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 ss 51, 54, 55; separate SWMS)
• Asbestos training for workers who may be involved in asbestos-related work, such as in older buildings (WHS Regulation s 445)
• Crystalline silica training where the dust assessment finds the work high risk
• Licensed electrical worker for any electrical work, for example pump or alarm connections (Electrical Safety Act 2002, s 55)

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 304 to 306 (excavation work), ss 306A to 306N (falls, ladders and trestle platforms in construction work)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 56 and 57 (noise), s 224 (pressure equipment), s 445 (asbestos training) and ss 529A to 529CD (crystalline silica)
• Excavation Work 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
• 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
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace 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
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): s 10 and sch 2 (overhead power line exclusion zones)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld): s 7 (person not to obstruct an evacuation route) and part 5 (prescribed fire safety installations)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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.