Fire Stopping and Penetration Sealing SWMS

Suits fire protection contractors, builders and trades who seal service penetrations and install fire stopping in walls, floors, shafts and risers. It follows the job from the penetration survey and set-up through cutting, ceiling space and riser work, installing products and sealants, recording and handover. Ceiling-space entry and certification of the fire stopping system are covered elsewhere.

A SWMS is legally required when the work is high risk construction work, such as work with a risk of a fall of more than 2 m or work that disturbs asbestos (WHS Regulation sections 291 and 299). Fire stopping is not high risk by itself, so otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. Tick the falls, asbestos, energised installations or contaminated atmosphere items on the cover if they apply to your job.

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

What Is Covered In Our Fire Stopping and Penetration Sealing SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job and survey the penetrations” to “Pack up, clean up and hand over”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from ladders, platforms and EWPs
• Falls through open floor penetrations and riser openings
• Dust from cutting and coring concrete and masonry
• Mineral wool and glass fibre irritating skin and airways
• Asbestos in old linings and existing seals
• Chemical sealants, mastics and foams
• Flammable aerosols and solvents near ignition sources
• Heat and cramped postures in ceiling spaces and risers
• Hidden live cables in penetrations
• Dropped tools striking people below
• Unsealed openings left at the end of a shift

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

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Training or instruction in the fire stopping products and systems being installed, from the manufacturer or supplier
• Training in ladder and step platform use, and in working in ceiling spaces and risers
• Operator licence or verification of competency for any elevating work platform used; a high risk work licence if it is a boom-type EWP with a boom length of 11 m or more (WHS Regulation Sch 3 item 21)
• Workers the PCBU reasonably believes may be involved in asbestos removal work or asbestos-related work are trained in the identification and safe handling of asbestos and ACM (WHS Regulation s 445); everyone else stops and reports anything that may be asbestos
• Crystalline silica training where the dust assessment finds cutting or coring high risk (WHS Regulation s 529CD)
• Hazardous chemical training in reading SDS and handling sealants, foams and mastics

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 306Q (falls, ladders and platforms in construction work)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 315B to 315M (falling objects)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 52 and 53 (ignition sources, flammable and combustible material) and s 344 (safety data sheets)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 56 and 57 (noise), ss 419, 422, 445, 450 and 451 (asbestos) and ss 529A to 529CD (crystalline silica)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 31 to 36 (work in the roof space of a building)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals 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 the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021

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
• 9 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 footwear; safety glasses or goggles when cutting, drilling, overhead and when applying sealants
• Emergency arrangements for: fall from a ladder, platform or through an opening and suspected asbestos disturbed
• 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.