Audio Visual Equipment Installation SWMS

Suits audio visual installers and technicians fitting screens, projectors, speakers and equipment racks to walls and ceilings in commercial and education buildings. It covers planning and service checks, access, drilling and fixing, hanging equipment, extra-low-voltage cabling, power connection and handover.

Audio visual installation in a building is construction work, but it is not high risk construction work by itself, so no items are pre-ticked. A SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). Tick falls of more than 2 m, asbestos disturbance or work on or near energised installations if they apply to your job.

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

What Is Covered In Our Audio Visual Equipment Installation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job and check the building” to “Hand over and clean up”. The hazards and controls include:

• Asbestos in old linings and coatings
• Hidden live wiring and pipes
• Falls from ladders and platforms
• Falling equipment and tools
• Silica dust from drilling masonry
• Hammer drill noise
• Heavy screens, projectors and racks
• Ceiling space entry
• Cuts from knives and sharp cable trays
• Electric shock and power connections
• Projector lens glare and hot housings
• Slips and trips on cable and offcuts

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

• General construction induction training card (white card) for audio visual installation in a building, which is construction work: fitting-out of a structure (WHS Regulation s 289)
• Licensed electrical worker holding an electrical work licence that authorises the work for any connection to mains supply wiring, fixed power outlets or hardwired equipment (Electrical Safety Act 2002 ss 18 and 55)
• No licence is needed to mount a screen, projector, speaker, bracket or rack, or to run extra-low-voltage signal and control cable: mounting without making any electrical connection to the equipment is not electrical work (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 18(2)(n)) and extra-low-voltage equipment (50 V AC or less, or 120 V ripple-free DC or less) is not electrical equipment (s 14 and the dictionary)
• Workers trained and assessed as competent in the ladders, podium platforms, mobile scaffolds or elevating work platforms they use
• High risk work licence for a boom-type elevating work platform with a boom length of 11 m or more (WHS Regulation Schedule 3); no licence class applies to a scissor lift or podium platform
• Workers trained to recognise suspected asbestos in a building built before 31 December 2003, to stop work and to report it (this SWMS’s requirement; the training duty in WHS Regulation s 445 covers workers involved in asbestos removal or asbestos-related work)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): ss 14, 18 and 55 (what electrical work is and who may do it)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2 (overhead line exclusion zones), ss 31 to 36 (roof space work), s 140 (construction work)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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: safety glasses when drilling and fixing overhead; hearing protection when drilling masonry, as the last control for noise
• Emergency arrangements for: fall from a ladder or platform, suspected asbestos disturbed and struck a live cable when drilling
• 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.