Solar Panel Cleaning SWMS

Suits solar panel cleaners, roof and exterior cleaning businesses and facility maintenance teams who clean rooftop and ground-mounted solar arrays with water-fed poles. It covers roof inspection, power lines and the live array, roof access and fall protection, moving across the roof, the pole and pure water set-up, cleaning, ground arrays, droppings and wash water, and pack-up.

Cleaning solar panels on its own is not clearly high risk construction work: WHS Regulation s 289 lists maintenance and repair of a structure but not cleaning, and excludes only work of a minor nature. A SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (s 299), so no item is ticked for you; otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. If your job is construction work, tick the items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 metres, and add work on or near energised electrical installations if the work is close to live parts.

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 Solar Panel Cleaning SWMS?

The job steps run in the order the work is done, from pre-start checks to finishing up. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from roof edges and ladders
• Falls through fragile sheets and skylights
• Slips on wet panels and mossy roofs
• Cracking panels by walking on them
• Live DC panels that cannot be switched off
• Water-fed pole contact with overhead power lines
• Water on damaged wiring and connectors
• Manual handling of long poles and water tanks
• Vehicles, snakes and wasps on ground arrays
• Dried bird droppings and mould
• Asbestos in old roofing beside the array
• Heat, glare and sun on an exposed roof

High Risk Construction Work

No high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this work is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick the items that apply to your job, such as a fall risk of more than 2 metres or work where powered mobile plant is moving.

Licences, Training and Competency

• Operator trained and competent in the water-fed pole system, including pole assembly, reach limits and the pure water unit
• Training in the roof fall controls used (edge protection, travel restraint or a fall arrest harness system) and in the rescue procedure (WHS Regulation s 80)
• A competent person to install travel restraint, approve anchor points and inspect them at least every 6 months where a restraint system is used
• General construction induction training card (white card) where the job is construction work, for example cleaning done as part of an installation, repair or refurbishment
• No high risk work licence is needed for cleaning solar panels; a licence is needed only for a boom-type elevating work platform with a boom of 11 m or more (Schedule 3 item 21)
• Licensed electrical worker (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55) for any fault, isolation or electrical work on the array; the cleaning crew does none of it
• Workers the PCBU reasonably believes may be involved in asbestos-related work are trained under WHS Regulation s 445; everyone else stops and reports anything that may be asbestos
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace
• Construction and Operation of Solar Farms Code of Practice 2024 (written for solar farms of 100 kW or more; read as guidance for smaller systems)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (guidance)

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.