Carpentry SWMS

Suits builders, carpenters and apprentice crews who frame floors and walls and fit out doors, skirtings, architraves and trims on houses and small commercial jobs. It covers planning and site checks, fall protection at edges and openings, handling timber and sheets, framing, cutting and fixing with saws and nail guns, fit-out, and dust, noise and heat. Roof trusses, pre-nailed wall frames and general work at heights are covered by separate SWMS.

A SWMS is legally required when the carpentry is high risk construction work, such as work with a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres or work that is likely to disturb asbestos (WHS Regulation sections 291 and 299); otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. Because the approved Queensland silica code treats construction work with a risk of silica exposure as work in an area that may have a contaminated atmosphere, you can also tick that item (WHS Regulation s 291(l)) when cutting or drilling fibre cement, concrete or masonry creates silica dust.

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 Carpentry SWMS?

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

• Falls from floor edges, openings and unsheeted joists
• Falls from ladders, step platforms and trestle platforms
• Frames and beams toppling or crushing during standing and bracing
• Frames blown over in wind before they are braced
• Cuts and amputations from saws, planers and routers
• Kickback and flying offcuts
• Nail gun injuries and ricochet
• Strains from timber, sheets and beams
• Wood, fibre cement and silica dust
• Noise from saws, nail guns and compressors
• Asbestos and lead paint in older buildings
• Hidden cables and pipes in walls and floors
• Snakes, spiders and heat in sub-floor spaces
• Heat and sun exposure

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

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction, and competency in the hand and power tools used; apprentices and new workers work under the supervision of an experienced carpenter
• Nail gun training for every operator, covering the gun, its manual and PPE
• Competent person on the crew to check the stability and bracing of frames, lintels and beams before other trades work on them
• High risk work licence for the class of any forklift truck, or any vehicle loading crane of 10 metre tonnes or more, used to move materials (WHS Regulation Schedule 3 items 13 and 24); a dogging or higher rigging class licence (items 4 to 7) for anyone who slings a load or directs a plant operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work); trained operators for smaller plant
• Asbestos training (WHS Regulation s 445) for workers who may be involved in asbestos-related work in older buildings
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) where the dust assessment finds cutting or drilling high risk (WHS Regulation s 529CD)
• An adequate number of workers trained in first aid, and first aid equipment on the job (WHS Regulation s 42; the First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 sets out numbers)

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): ss 78, 79 and 306A to 306O (falls, edge protection, ladders and trestle platforms in construction work)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 54, 55 and 315B to 315M (falling objects)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): chapter 8 (asbestos) ss 419, 422, 445 and 446, chapter 8A (crystalline silica) ss 529A to 529CD, and s 392 (lead process)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• 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
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities 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
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of falls in housing construction (guidance)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 31 to 36 (work in roof spaces), s 140 (construction wiring and equipment) and the overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (17 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.