Airless Spray Painting SWMS

Suits painters, protective coating crews and maintenance teams who use airless spray rigs on buildings, fences and structures. It covers planning with the SDS, ignition and ventilation control, rig set-up and earthing, priming, spraying, hose handling, clearing blocked tips and clean-up. Brush and roller painting and spray booth work use separate SWMS.

Airless spray painting is not high risk construction work by itself, so a SWMS is only legally required when the job also involves work listed in WHS Regulation s 291 (and s 299 then applies), such as a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres or work in an area that may have a contaminated or flammable atmosphere. Otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. Tick the contaminated or flammable atmosphere item when you spray flammable coatings in an enclosed area.

New to SWMS? Read What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?

What Is Covered In Our Airless Spray Painting SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job and read the product information” to “Pack up, store the rig and dispose of waste”. The hazards and controls include:

• Paint injection injuries from high-pressure spray
• Flammable solvent fire and explosion
• Static electricity at the gun and hose
• Breathing solvent vapour and paint mist
• Overspray reaching people and property
• Hose or fitting failure under pressure
• Hose trips and kinking
• Clearing blocked tips
• Lead or asbestos in old coatings
• Noise from the pump
• Skin and eye contact with solvents
• Oily rags and waste fires

High Risk Construction Work

None of the high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this job is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick any that apply on your site.

Licences, Training and Competency

• Training and verification of competency in the airless spray rig used
• Training in hazardous chemicals and reading the SDS
• Respirator fit test and training in respirator selection, use and maintenance
• General construction induction training card (white card) when the work is construction work
• Site induction
• First aid arrangements for the site (WHS Regulation s 42); everyone on the job knows a paint injection injury needs urgent medical care

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 52, 53, 342, 346, 351, 355 and 359 (ignition sources, flammable stock, labelling, register, risks, fire and explosion, fire protection)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 368 and schedule 14 (health monitoring)
• Spray Painting and Powder Coating Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work 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
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 9 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: respirator suited to the coating (the spray code names AS/NZS 1715:2009 Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective equipment and AS/NZS 1716:2012 Respiratory protective devices)
• Emergency arrangements for: paint injection injury, paint or solvent fire and paint or solvent splash to eyes
• Plus the parts every Work Safety QLD SWMS shares, from the s 291 checklist to the worker sign-on sheet (see the layout in our free SWMS template)

Adjust it for your site, plant and crew, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed November 2026.