Chainsaw SWMS

Suits tradespeople, landscapers, council and property crews and site teams who use a petrol chainsaw for ground-based cutting and small-tree felling. It follows the job from planning and power line checks through refuelling, starting, cutting, felling and limbing to packing up.

Chainsaw work is not high risk construction work by itself, so a SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 only when the work is construction work that also meets a high risk item in s 291 (for example work near energised overhead lines, beside a road in use or with a fall of more than 2 metres); otherwise it works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment.

New to SWMS? Read What is a safe work method statement?

What is covered in our chainsaw SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the work and set up the work area” to “Pack up and store the chainsaw”. The hazards and controls include:

• Kickback and chain contact
• Falling trees, limbs and hung-up trees
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Fire from refuelling and hot engines
• Noise above the exposure standard
• Hand-arm vibration
• Wood dust and exhaust fumes
• Limbs and logs under tension
• Rolling logs and pinched bars
• Manual handling of logs and branches
• Traffic beside roadside work
• Heat illness and fatigue

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

• No high risk work licence class applies to chainsaw use (not a Schedule 3 class)
• Chainsaw operator training suited to the cutting being done (nationally recognised or equivalent), with competency verified before working unsupervised; the Forest Harvesting code expects chainsaw accreditation for fellers in forest harvesting
• General construction induction training card (white card) when the work is construction work
• Site induction
• First aid certificate for the nominated first aider

Legislation and codes of practice referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks 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
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (heat)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Forest Harvesting Code of Practice 2007 (felling and chainsaw practice; written for forest harvesting operations)
• AS 2727 Chainsaws – Guide to safe working practices, and AS 2726 Chainsaws – Safety requirements – Part 1: Chainsaws for general use (both named in the Forest Harvesting code)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld) (overhead power line exclusion zones, ss 10-13 and Sch 2)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (chapter 6, clearing vegetation near lines)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (work beside a road)

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages. Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 10 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: cut-resistant chainsaw trousers or chaps (leg protection); chainsaw helmet with mesh or face visor and ear muffs, or a hard hat with visor and hearing protection
• Emergency arrangements for: chainsaw laceration, tree, limb or saw in contact with a power line and fuel fire
• 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.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed November 2026.