Solar Panel Bird Proofing SWMS

Suits pest and bird control businesses, solar maintenance companies and roofing trades who fit mesh, skirts and clips around rooftop solar panels. It covers roof inspection, power lines and live DC cables, roof access and fall protection, droppings and nest clearance, cutting and fitting the mesh, and cleaning up. Edit the controls to match your bird proofing system and the panel manufacturer’s rules.

Roof work with a fall of more than 2 metres and work close to a live PV array and its cables are high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 291), so those two items are ticked and a SWMS is required before the work starts (s 299). Add the asbestos item if the work may disturb asbestos in older roofing.

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 Bird Proofing 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
• Live DC cables and connectors under the panels
• Metal mesh touching cables or connectors
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Dried droppings, mould and spores
• Nests, mites, bites and stings
• Cuts from mesh and cut wire ends
• Dropped clips, tools and offcuts
• Hot panels and tight gaps under the array
• Asbestos in old roofing and eaves
• Heat, glare and sun on an exposed roof

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:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m
• Is carried out on or near energised electrical installations or services

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Installer trained in the bird proofing system used and in its manufacturer’s instructions for fixing to panel frames
• 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
• Training in the hazards of dried bird droppings and in the respirator, glove and decontamination steps used
• Licensed electrical worker (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55) for any cable, connector or isolator that has to be moved, repaired or disconnected; the bird proofing crew does none of it
• No high risk work licence is needed for bird proofing; a licence is needed only for a boom-type elevating work platform with a boom of 11 m or more (Schedule 3 item 21)
• 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
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 (where scaffold gives access; its section on bird droppings is risk information)
• 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)
• WorkSafe Queensland guidance: Managing the risk of falls while working on roofs in housing construction (guidance, not a code)

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.