Conveyor Belt Changeout SWMS

For maintenance crews and contractors who change out conveyor belts at ports, bulk handling sites, recycling plants and factories. It follows the job from the changeout plan and lock-out through releasing the take-up, work at height, cutting and removing the old belt and handling reels and winches, to threading, tensioning and the test run. Belt splicing and vulcanising need a separate SWMS.

Conveyor belt changeout at an industrial site is not high risk construction work by itself, so WHS Regulation s 299 requires a SWMS only where the work is high risk construction work (for example during a construction project). If it is, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 m, a confined space or energised electrical installations or services. Otherwise the document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. Coal mines and mines to which the mining safety Acts apply are outside the WHS Act (schedule 1, part 2, division 1, section 2(1)(a) and (b)).

Similar job: if it is closer to your work, see the Conveyor Idler and Roller Replacement SWMS.

New to SWMS? Read What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?

What Is Covered In Our Conveyor Belt Changeout SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the changeout and agree the method” to “Clean up and dispose of waste belt”. The hazards and controls include:

• Conveyor starting during the changeout
• Stored energy in take-ups and loaded belts
• Hands drawn into nip points
• Falls from gantries and walkways
• Dropped tools and belt pieces
• Cuts from knives and steel cords
• Heavy belt reels and sections
• Winch rope and clamp failure
• Strains from pulling and holding belt
• Dust from spilled and carried material
• Fatigue on long shutdown shifts
• Restarting with people still on the line

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

• Workers trained and verified as competent in the site’s isolation and lock-out procedure and in conveyor changeout
• A competent person for the changeout plan and the take-up release, such as an experienced belt changeout leader
• Licensed electrical worker for any disconnection or work on motors, cabling or switchboards (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• High risk work licence for dogging where slinging is done or a crane operator is directed out of view, and the matching licence class for any crane or hoist used (WHS Regulation schedule 3)
• Forklift truck licence where a forklift handles reels; boom-type elevating work platform of 11 m or more needs its own licence class
• Working at heights training for workers on gantries and walkways (no licence class exists for working at heights)
• Confined space entry training, and a confined space entry permit, if any chute or enclosure must be entered
• Site induction covering conveyor isolation points, plant traffic and emergency stops
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders or access to them for the size and location of the site (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 205 to 213 (plant: alteration, proper use, plant not in use, guarding, heat, operational controls, emergency stops, maintenance and inspection)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 78 and 79 (falls) and ss 66 and 67 (confined spaces)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• 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): s 55 (only licensed electrical workers do electrical work)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): s 17 (unsafe electrical equipment is disconnected or isolated)
• AS/NZS 4024 (series) Safety of machinery, conveyors (named only as Appendix D of the Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 lists it)
• Mining safety Acts: the WHS Act does not apply to a coal mine to which the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 applies, or to a mine to which the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 applies (WHS Act schedule 1, part 2, division 1, section 2(1)(a) and (b)); a quarry is a mine unless a regulation declares otherwise (Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 s 9(1)(f) and (4))

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 11 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: safety boots; high-visibility clothing; hard hat and safety glasses; cut-resistant gloves for knives and steel cord; close-fitting gloves for rope and clamp handling (no loose cuffs)
• Emergency arrangements for: person caught or trapped by the belt or a nip point, person suspended after a fall or knocked from the gantry and belt or rope failure with a person struck
• 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. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.

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