Cleaning SWMS

For cleaning businesses, contract cleaners and in-house cleaning teams working in offices, shops, schools, clinics and homes. It follows the job in order, from checking the premises and mixing products to bathrooms, sharps, floors and locking up, with working alone covered throughout.

Routine cleaning is not high risk construction work by itself, so WHS Regulation s 299 does not require a SWMS for it; a SWMS is legally required only when the cleaning is part of high risk construction work (for example a builders’ clean among moving powered mobile plant), and otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment.

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 Cleaning SWMS?

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

• Slips and falls on wet floors
• Chemical splashes, burns and fumes
• Mixing incompatible cleaning products
• Needles, sharps and broken glass in bins and toilets
• Infection from toilets, blood and body substances
• Strains from moving furniture, buckets and bins
• Falls from step ladders when dusting high surfaces
• Electric shock from vacuum cleaners and leads
• Working alone and after hours
• Aggressive occupants and harassment
• Cuts and strains from handling waste

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 in the cleaning chemicals used: reading labels and safety data sheets, diluting safely, wearing the right PPE and responding to a spill, splash or fumes
• Training in the cleaning equipment used (vacuums, floor machines, polishers) and in safe manual handling
• Infection control and sharps training: hand hygiene, gloves, cleaning body substance spills, and what to do after a needle or sharps injury
• Instruction on working alone: check-in times, how to call for help and what to do if someone becomes aggressive
• First aid equipment, facilities and an adequate number of trained first aiders (or access to them), as the first aid assessment shows the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Vaccination offered to workers at risk of blood-borne infection, in line with the Australian Immunisation Handbook (the First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 names it for first aiders)
• Client or site induction, including keys, alarms, restricted areas and emergency exits
• General construction induction training card (white card) only when the cleaning is construction work, such as a builders’ clean on a construction site

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021 (decanted chemicals and spray bottles)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (floors and slips, remote or isolated work)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (infection control, sharps, eyewash)
• Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022 (working alone, aggression, harassment)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021 (portable ladders)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): part 6, division 4, electrical equipment used for service work
• AS/NZS 3760 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment and RCDs (named in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026)
• AS/NZS 3012 Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites (named in section 140 of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026; applies to a builders’ clean on a construction site)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (guidance)

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.