Feedlot Feed Mill Operation SWMS

For feedlot operators, mill hands, loader drivers and maintenance crews who run a feed mill. It follows the work from planning the shift and pre-start checks through receiving grain, running the mill, controlling dust and ignition sources, handling additives, loading out, clearing blockages and maintenance to shut-down. Entering a bin, hopper or silo has its own SWMS.

Feed mill operation is not construction work, so no high risk construction work item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is not legally required for it (WHS Regulation s 299 applies to high risk construction work); the document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. If the work is part of construction work, tick any reg 291 item that applies, for example a confined space (f), a contaminated or flammable atmosphere (l), a fall of more than 2 metres (a) or energised electrical installations or services (k).

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

What Is Covered In Our Feedlot Feed Mill Operation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the shift, grain receivals and traffic” to “Noise, heat and long shifts”. The hazards and controls include:

• Entanglement in conveyors, augers, rollers and drives
• Missing guards and faulty emergency stops
• Grain dust fire and explosion
• Ignition sources in dusty areas
• Engulfment and entry into bins, hoppers and pits
• Unexpected start-up while clearing blockages
• Trucks and loaders striking pedestrians
• Truck tipping near overhead power lines
• Exposure to additives and dust
• Electric shock from motors and panels
• Falls from bin tops, platforms and elevator heads
• Noise, heat and fatigue on long shifts

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

• Training and verified competency on the mill line in use (intake, conveyors, augers, elevators, mill, mixer and controls), including the emergency stops and the isolation procedure
• Workers trained in the site’s lockout and isolation procedure and issued with their own lock and tag
• High risk work licence for the forklift truck class (Schedule 3 item 24) for anyone who operates a forklift, other than a pedestrian-operated one; loaders and trucks need training and verified competency, not a licence class
• Licensed electrical worker for any wiring, motor, control panel or switchboard work (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• Training in grain dust controls, cleaning without compressed air and, for those who need one, a fit-tested respirator
• Bin, hopper, pit or silo entry is not done under this SWMS: use the Bin, Hopper and Silo Entry SWMS and its permit, with a competent person and a stand-by person
• First aid training for nominated workers, with first aid equipment and facilities suited to the site (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Site induction for workers, truck drivers and visitors, covering traffic rules, speed limits and no-go areas

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 208, 210, 211 and 213 (guarding, operator controls, emergency stops, maintenance and isolation of plant)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 49 to 53 and 355 (exposure standards, hazardous atmospheres, ignition sources, flammable and combustible material, fire and explosion)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 214 and 215 (powered mobile plant)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 62 to 77 (confined spaces; entry is covered by a separate SWMS)
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (fire and explosion, dust explosion risks)
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces 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 (electrical work needs a licensed electrical worker)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Electrical equipment rural industry (hazardous areas such as grain silos)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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; respirator suited to grain dust, fit-tested, for dusty tasks that dust control cannot remove (a last control)
• Emergency arrangements for: entanglement or crush in a conveyor, auger or mill, person engulfed or missing in a bin, hopper or pit and fire or dust explosion
• 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.