Bulk Fuel Tanker Delivery SWMS

Suits fuel distributors, transport operators and the depots, farms and sites that receive bulk diesel and petrol deliveries. It follows the delivery from planning and site checks through positioning and reversing the tanker, hose and equipment checks, checking the receiving tank, bonding and connecting the hoses, the delivery itself, tank-top access and gauging, and disconnecting and draining the hoses, and it covers responding to a spill, leak or fire. It sits beside the road transport rules for dangerous goods, which apply to the tanker, its driver and its documents; general hazardous chemical use and storage, entering a tank and hot work are outside it.

Delivering bulk fuel to a depot or farm is not construction work, so the high risk construction work list in the WHS Regulation (section 291) does not apply, no item is pre-ticked and section 299 does not require a SWMS for it; the document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment that a depot, farm or customer may still ask for, and an item should be ticked on the form only if the delivery forms part of construction work.

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 Bulk Fuel Tanker Delivery SWMS?

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

• Fire and explosion from fuel vapour and static electricity
• Ignition sources near the delivery point
• Fuel spills onto the ground, into drains and into waterways
• Hose, coupling and valve failures
• Wrong product or an overfilled tank
• Tanker striking people or fixtures when reversing
• Rollover and bogging on soft or sloping ground
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Falls from the tanker steps and tank top
• Breathing fuel vapour and skin contact with fuel
• Noise from the delivery pump
• Lone drivers on remote farms, heat and fatigue
• Responding to a spill, leak or fuel fire

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

• Driver licence of the class that covers the tanker, and a dangerous goods driver licence where the load is dangerous goods in a receptacle of more than 500 L, or more than 500 kg of dangerous goods in a receptacle (Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Dangerous Goods) Regulation 2018 s 187, called the Dangerous Goods (road) Regulation in this SWMS)
• Training for the driver in bulk fuel transfer, the delivery equipment, spill response and the emergency procedure for each product carried (WHS Regulation s 363(2); Dangerous Goods (road) Regulation s 20)
• Site induction at each depot or farm, including its fuel delivery rules, emergency plan and assembly point; a general construction induction training card (white card) where the site is a construction site and its rules require one
• Fire extinguisher training for the driver, and first aid training that covers fuel splashes, burns and vapour exposure
• Spotter, briefed on hand signals, the exclusion zone and where to stand when the tanker reverses
• Site operator or farm contact briefed on the delivery, the emergency stop and the assembly point, and able to witness the delivery
• Delivery hose assemblies inspected and tested at the intervals and in the way chapter 10.1 of the ADG Code requires, by someone competent to do it, with the maintenance, inspection and test records kept (Dangerous Goods (road) Regulation ss 117, 119(3) and 120(3))
• Competent person to maintain and inspect the tanker, its pump and its safety equipment in line with the manufacturer’s instructions (WHS Regulation s 213)
• Health monitoring for drivers where there is a significant risk of exposure to a Schedule 14 chemical such as benzene in petrol (WHS Regulation s 368)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): chapter 7 part 7.1 (hazardous chemicals), including ss 341 to 346 (labels, SDS and register) and ss 351 to 364 (risk management, ignition sources, spills, impact protection, fire protection and bulk containers)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Dangerous Goods) Regulation 2018 (Qld), called the Dangerous Goods (road) Regulation in this SWMS and applying where the fuel is dangerous goods, which the SDS shows: s 20 (instruction and training), part 10 (bulk transfer), parts 11 and 12 (documents and safety equipment), part 13 (procedures during transport), part 14 (emergencies) and part 18 (licences)
• Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail (ADG Code), as applied by that Regulation (chapters 10.1 and 10.2, and part 13)
• Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland), applied by the Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012 (Qld): chain of responsibility (s 26C)
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (fuel storage and handling on farms)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination 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): ss 10 to 15 (overhead and underground electric lines) and the exclusion zones in schedule 2
• AS 1940 The storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids
• AS 1020 The control of undesirable static electricity

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (18 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.