Commercial Battery Energy Storage Installation SWMS

Suits electrical contractors and energy installers fitting battery energy storage systems in commercial, industrial and community buildings. It follows the job from design and site checks through delivery, racking, DC and AC connection, fire and ventilation systems, staged energisation and handover. Home batteries and live work are covered by separate SWMS.

Battery systems stay energised at their terminals, so the energised electrical installations item is ticked. Tick the other items the job involves: powered mobile plant such as forklifts and cranes, falls of more than 2 metres, asbestos that could be disturbed, and a contaminated or flammable atmosphere or confined space where the battery room or container is enclosed.

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 Commercial Battery Energy Storage Installation SWMS?

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

• DC arc flash and burns
• Electric shock from high voltage battery strings
• Battery fire and thermal runaway
• Heavy battery modules and enclosures
• Manual handling of modules
• Crane and forklift lifts
• Drilling concrete and silica dust
• Flammable or toxic gases in battery rooms
• Back-feed from solar and other sources
• Short circuits from dropped tools
• Falls when cabling at height
• Damaged modules left on site

High Risk Construction Work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Is carried out on or near energised electrical installations or services

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Electrical work licence that authorises the work (Electrical Safety Act 2002, s 55); the employer holds an electrical contractor licence (s 56)
• Competence in rescue and resuscitation for every worker who does or helps with electrical work (Electrical Safety Regulation 2026, s 211)
• Maker or industry training for the battery, inverter and energy management system being installed
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class, for slinging and directing crane operators (WHS Regulation schedule 3); crane and forklift operators hold the licence class their plant requires
• Competent person for the risk assessment, and for testing that equipment is dead
• Training in the isolation and lock-out procedure and in the test instruments and PPE in use
• First aid equipment and trained first aiders as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42)

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 306A to 306N (falls, ladders and trestle platforms in construction work)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 56 and 57 (noise), s 445 (asbestos training) and ss 529A to 529CD (crystalline silica)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work 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
• Confined Spaces 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): ss 14, 15, 18, 55 and 56 (meaning of electrical equipment, installation and work; electrical work and contractor licences)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): part 8, division 3 (electrical work on or near energised electrical equipment), ss 193 to 204
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): s 211 (rescue and resuscitation training)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace

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.