Streetlight Installation and Maintenance SWMS

Suits electrical contractors, linesworkers and street lighting maintenance crews who install, replace and repair streetlights from elevating work platforms. It follows the work from approvals and traffic set-up through EWP set-up, power line controls, isolation, heavy fittings, wiring and energising.

A SWMS is legally required only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). The reg 291 items for a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres (0), work near energised services (10), a road in use (13) and powered mobile plant (14) are ticked. Tick any other item that applies, such as a confined space 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 Streetlight Installation and Maintenance 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 power lines
• Electric shock from live streetlight circuits
• EWP overturning or ejecting the operator
• Falls from the basket
• Dropped luminaires and tools
• Vehicle strikes on road work
• Heavy luminaire and arm handling
• Hot lamps and broken glass
• Working in column bases and pits
• Striking underground cables
• Re-energising while work is under way

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
• Is carried out on, in or adjacent to a road, railway, shipping lane or other traffic corridor that is in use by traffic other than pedestrians
• 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
• Electrical work licence that authorises the work, held by every person who performs or supervises electrical work on the streetlight circuit. Installing or maintaining street lighting circuits is illustrated in the Act as electric line work, and an electrical linesperson licence authorises all electric line work (Electrical Safety Act 2002 ss 19(2) and 55; Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 147)
• Electrical contractor licence held by the employer for the electrical work (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 56)
• Written authority or approval from the electricity entity or road asset owner where the streetlight is part of their network or road reserve (check their requirements)
• High risk work licence for a boom-type elevating work platform with a boom length of 11 m or more (WHS Regulation Schedule 3 item 21); documented training and verified competence for smaller EWPs (no licence for scissor lifts)
• Ground person trained in the EWP ground controls and emergency lowering
• Safety observer or spotter trained for work near overhead power lines
• Rescue and resuscitation training for everyone who does or helps with electrical work (Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 211)
• Traffic controllers who are accredited (or in an approved course under a traffic controller’s supervision) wherever traffic is directed on or beside the road (Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 ss 54 and 55)
• CPR and first aid training for the crew

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 78 to 80 and 306C to 306J (falls)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 54 and ss 315B to 315F (falling objects)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 214 to 215 (powered mobile plant)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 219 (plant that lifts or suspends persons or things)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): ss 19, 55 and 56 (electric line work, electrical work licence, contractor licence)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2 (overhead line exclusion zones), ss 14 and 15 (underground electric lines)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 193 to 204 (electrical work on or near energised electrical equipment), ss 196 to 198 (isolation) and s 211 (rescue and resuscitation training)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): s 147 (electrical linesperson licence) and s 292 (serious electrical incidents and dangerous electrical events)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace

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.