Birdcage Scaffold SWMS

Suits scaffolders, plasterers, ceiling fixers and builders who use a free-standing birdcage platform for ceiling work and large internal spans. It covers planning and floor checks, ceiling services, building the grid and platform, handover, loading, alterations and dismantling. Fixed and mobile scaffolds are covered by separate SWMS.

Work with a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres is high risk construction work under WHS Regulation s 291(a), so that item is ticked. A scaffolding licence is needed only where a person or object could fall more than 4 metres from the platform or structure. If the birdcage platform is below 2 metres, you can untick the item. Tick any other items the job involves.

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 Birdcage Scaffold SWMS?

The job steps run in the order the work is done, from pre-start checks to finishing up. The hazards and controls include:

• Scaffold collapse from overloading or poor bracing
• Floor or slab unable to carry the scaffold
• Falls from the open platform edge
• Falls while erecting and dismantling
• Gaps and loose planks in the platform
• Live lighting and cabling near the ceiling
• Components falling onto people below
• Unauthorised access to incomplete scaffold
• Overloading with stacked ceiling boards
• Removed ties, bracing or edge protection
• Manual handling of heavy components
• Trucks and forklifts during delivery and load-out

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

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• High risk work licence for the scaffolding class that matches the birdcage, for anyone erecting, altering or dismantling it where a person or object could fall more than 4 m from the platform or structure: basic class for modular or prefabricated scaffold (Schedule 3 item 1), intermediate class for tube and coupler scaffold (item 2(2)(g))
• No scaffolding licence is needed where a fall of 4 m or less is possible, but the workers must still be competent and trained in erecting, altering and dismantling scaffold (Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021, section 1.5.2)
• A person training towards scaffolding certification may do the work without a licence while supervised by a person licensed for the class (WHS Regulation s 82(1); Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021, section 1.5.3)
• Competent person to inspect the scaffold and supporting structure; an engineer to verify the design where it is outside the maker’s documented limits, clad, or beyond the size limits in Table 1 of the Scaffolding Code
• Anyone who slings a hoisted or crane-lifted load, or directs the operator when the load is out of view, holds a dogging licence or higher rigging class (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• 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)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead electric line exclusion zones in schedule 2

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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.