Steel Sheet Piling Installation SWMS

Suits piling and civil contractors who install steel sheet piles with vibratory hammers on excavators. It follows the work from the engineer’s design and services checks through pitching, driving, jammed sheets and demobilisation.

Two items are ticked for you: movement of powered mobile plant, because the excavator and trucks work in the area, and work on or near energised services, because sheets are driven into ground that may hold underground cables and near overhead lines (WHS Regulation s 291), so a SWMS is required before the work starts (s 299). Add the shaft and trench item if you work beside an excavation deeper than 1.5 metres, the water item if there is a drowning risk, and any other item that applies.

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 Steel Sheet Piling 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:

• Underground services and overhead power lines
• Excavator instability on the working platform
• Sheets falling from stacks and during pitching
• Hydraulic hose failure and oil injection
• Vibratory hammer noise and hearing loss
• Ground vibration near structures and services
• Pinch and crush points at clamps and interlocks
• Cuts from sheet edges
• Falls into excavations and water beside the wall
• Jammed sheets and extraction
• Loads over people and dogging
• Plant loading and unloading

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

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• No high risk work licence class applies to operating an excavator or a vibratory hammer (Schedule 3 names no piling class); the crane class applies only if a crane lifts the sheets
• Operator trained and verified competent on the excavator, quick hitch and vibratory hammer used
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3), for anyone who slings a load or directs the plant operator in moving a load when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• High risk work licence for the class of any crane used to unload or pitch sheets (Schedule 3)
• Competent person (engineer) to confirm the design, the platform and any vibration limits
• Trained operator for the cable and pipe locator
• Spotter briefed on hand signals, the exclusion zone and overhead line clearances
• 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 (steel sheet piling and shoring)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (earthmoving plant used as a crane)
• Welding Processes Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (work beside a road)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead line exclusion zones and unsafe distances (ss 10, 11 and 13 and sch 2) and underground electric lines (ss 14 and 15)
• 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.