Boom Spray Operation SWMS

Suits farmers, spray contractors and rural workers who apply chemicals with a tractor-mounted, trailed or self-propelled boom sprayer. It covers the pre-start check, weather and paddock planning, hitching and unfolding the boom, spraying, slopes, overhead power lines, road travel, blockages and decontamination. Chemical mixing and loading uses a separate SWMS.

Boom spraying on a farm is not high risk construction work, so no item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299); this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment that you tailor to your property. If the work is part of construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, for example movement of powered mobile plant or a road in use.

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 Boom Spray Operation SWMS?

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

• Operator exposure to agricultural chemicals
• Spray drift onto people, houses and waterways
• Tractor and sprayer roll-over on slopes
• Boom contact with overhead power lines
• Crushing while hitching and unfolding the boom
• Entanglement in PTO shafts
• High-pressure leaks from hoses and nozzles
• Collisions on roads and crossings
• Chemical spills
• Contaminated wash water
• Heat, fatigue and noise on long shifts
• Working alone in remote paddocks

High Risk Construction Work

No high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this work is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick the items that apply to your job, such as a fall risk of more than 2 metres or work where powered mobile plant is moving.

Licences, Training and Competency

• Training and instruction in the tractor or self-propelled sprayer, the boom, the pump and the label directions of each product applied, recorded by the PCBU
• Verification of competency on the sprayer and boom before unsupervised work
• Training in the hazardous chemicals used, including how to read the label and the safety data sheet (SDS)
• Health monitoring where the Regulation requires it, for example for organophosphate pesticides (WHS Regulation s 368 and Schedule 14)
• Driver licence and any registration, permit or oversize conditions the road rules require before the rig is driven on a road
• Property induction covering no-spray zones, waterways, neighbours and emergency arrangements

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 214 to 216: powered mobile plant, specific control measures and roll-over protection on tractors
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 351, 355, 357 and 368: hazardous chemical risks, fire and explosion, spills and health monitoring
• Chemical Usage (Agricultural and Veterinary) Control Act 1988 (Qld) s 13(1): a registered agricultural chemical product must be used only in a way stated on the approved label, unless a permit or regulation authorises another use
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace 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
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work 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 Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 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.