Temporary Power Pole Installation SWMS

For electrical contractors and builders who set up temporary power poles on building and construction sites. It follows the job from planning and service checks through delivery, digging, the pole lift, earthing, connection and testing to removal.

Connecting a pole to supply is work on or near energised electrical installations or services and the lift involves powered mobile plant, so items 10 and 14 are ticked. Electrical work must be done by a licensed electrical worker, and energised electrical work needs its own electrical SWMS. Tick other items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 metres or a trench deeper than 1.5 metres.

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 Temporary Power Pole 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:

• Contact with overhead electric lines
• Striking buried services
• Electric shock at connection
• Equipment re-energised during work
• Falling or swinging poles
• Crane or excavator tip-over
• Open holes and edge collapse
• Faulty earthing and RCDs
• Falls fitting boards at height
• Manual handling of poles and boards
• Dust from dry backfill

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 in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant

Licences, Training and Competency

• Licensed electrical worker (electrical work licence that authorises the work) for all electrical work on the pole, board, cabling, earthing and connection (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• General construction induction training card (white card) and site induction for everyone on the site
• Crane operator holding the high risk work licence class that matches the lifting plant (for example vehicle loading crane of 10 metre tonnes or more, or the mobile crane class for its capacity)
• Person holding the dogging licence class to sling the pole and direct the crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view
• Competent person to inspect and test equipment, apply test tags and locate services
• Spotter or safety observer briefed to watch the lifting plant, mast and load and warn the operator before any part of them nears an overhead electric line
• Operator training and verification of competency for the auger rig or excavator used (no high risk work licence applies to an excavator in general)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): requirement for an electrical work licence (s 55)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): exclusion zones and unsafe distances (ss 10 to 13, Sch 2), underground electric lines (ss 14 and 15), construction electrical equipment (s 140), isolation (ss 196 to 198), energised electrical work (ss 199 to 204)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks 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 the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• AS/NZS 3012 (Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites), as named in Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 140

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 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.