Aquaculture Pond Harvest SWMS

For prawn, barramundi and other fish farms, and contract harvest crews, who draw nets and run aerators and pumps at ponds. It follows the harvest in order, from planning and the rescue plan through electrical isolation, netting, handling the catch and water rescue to hygiene and load-out. Loading vehicles has its own SWMS.

Pond harvest is not high risk construction work, so a SWMS is legally required only where the work is part of high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299); otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment that you tailor to your farm. If the work is construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as work in or near water with a risk of drowning (item 16).

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

What Is Covered In Our Aquaculture Pond Harvest SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the harvest, assign roles and set the rescue plan” to “Load out, clean down and make safe”. The hazards and controls include:

• Drowning from falling in or trapped in mud
• Net and rope entanglement
• Electric shock from aerators, pumps and leads near water
• Aerator and pump entanglement
• Slips and falls on wet, muddy banks
• Vehicles and tractors near the pond edge
• Heavy lifting of nets, baskets and bins
• Spines and cuts from handling fish
• Water-borne illness and pond chemicals
• Heat, fatigue and night harvest

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 or supervised experience in pond harvesting, net handling and fish handling, recorded by the PCBU
• CPR and first aid training for workers expected to give first aid, with CPR refreshed annually as the First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 advises; an adequate number of trained first aiders or access to them (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Training in the safe use of pumps, aerators, winches, any tractor or boat used, and their emergency stops and isolation points
• Licensed electrical worker for any repair, wiring or fault finding on aerators, pumps, switchboards or supply (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55); workers only plug in and use equipment
• Driver licence of the class for each vehicle used; training in the safe use of any tractor, quad bike or side-by-side used at the ponds
• Information on water-borne illness and hygiene, and swimming and water rescue skills as far as the plan requires (no worker is required to enter the water to rescue another)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024: section 7.8 (irrigation ponds), guarding, power take-off and hazardous manual tasks
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): s 55, only licensed electrical workers perform electrical work
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): s 125 (aquaculture is rural industry work) and s 141 (requirements for rural industry work, including stated electrical risk factors such as plug-in equipment in an unroofed or wet area)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Electrical equipment rural industry (read with the 2026 Regulation section numbers above)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (remote or isolated work)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 10 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: lifejacket (personal flotation device) for anyone working on a boat, at a deep edge or wading where the footing or depth is uncertain; non-slip waders or boots with good tread, and wet weather gear
• Emergency arrangements for: person in the water or missing from the edge, electric shock, or a person tingling or frozen near an aerator or lead and entrapment in mud or entanglement in a net
• 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.