Balustrade and Handrail Installation SWMS

Suits carpenters, metal fabricators, builders and balustrade installers who fit steel or timber balustrades and handrails on stairs, balconies and decks. It follows the job from the drawings and fixing checks through edge protection, drilling and anchoring, positioning heavy panels and handrails, to inspection and handover.

Balustrade and handrail installation is construction work but not high risk construction work by itself, so no item is pre-ticked. Tick the fall item (WHS Regulation s 291(a)) when a person could fall more than 2 metres, which is common on balconies and upper decks, the energised electrical item when working near overhead lines or services, the contaminated atmosphere item when drilling creates silica dust, as the approved silica code advises, and the powered mobile plant item when a crane or forklift works in the area. Glass-only systems and stair construction need separate SWMS.

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

What Is Covered In Our Balustrade and Handrail Installation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the work, check the drawings and inspect the fixing surface” to “Remove temporary protection, clean up and hand over”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from balcony, deck and stair edges
• Falls from ladders, platforms and scaffolds
• Objects falling onto people below
• Lifting heavy steel and timber panels
• Panels toppling or catching the wind
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Drilling into cables or post-tensioned slabs
• Silica dust from drilling concrete
• Saw and grinder contact and kickback
• Welding fume and fire from hot work
• Noise from drilling and grinding
• A loose or wrongly spaced finished balustrade

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 construction work
• Qualified carpenter, metal fabricator or installer, or worker directly supervised by one, trained in the balustrade or handrail system being installed
• Training in the safe use of drills, saws, grinders and any welding equipment used
• Competent person to inspect temporary edge protection, ladders, scaffolds and platforms
• Scaffolding licence of the matching class for any scaffold from which a person or object could fall more than 4 m (erected under a separate scaffold SWMS)
• High risk work licence for a boom-type elevating work platform where the boom is 11 m or more
• High risk work licence for the class of any crane or hoist used, and a dogging licence for anyone slinging a load (under a separate lifting SWMS)
• Engineer’s or manufacturer’s design and installation details for the balustrade, including the fixing type and spacing
• First aid certificate for the nominated first aider
• Site induction

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), including ss 306C to 306M (falls) and ss 315B to 315M (falling objects)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• 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
• Welding Processes Code of Practice 2021 (where welding or hot cutting is used)
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 (scaffolds used for access)
• Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead line exclusion zones (ss 10 to 13 and sch 2) and electrical equipment on construction sites (s 140)
• 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 (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
• 11 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; hearing protection for drilling, grinding and sawing; safety boots and work gloves; fit-tested P2 respirator for dust that cannot be controlled at the source
• Emergency arrangements for: fall from an edge, ladder or platform, crush injury under a panel or post and contact with an energised cable (drill strike or overhead line)
• 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 October 2026.