Fixed Ladder Installation SWMS

For steel fabricators, rigging crews and building maintenance contractors who install fixed ladders, cages and rest platforms on buildings, tanks and structures. It follows the work from planning and anchor checks through access, lifting, drilling, fixing and inspection, and points to separate SWMS for general working at heights and confined spaces.

Installing a fixed ladder on a structure is construction work with a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres, so that item is ticked (WHS Regulation s 291(a)); a SWMS is required for high risk construction work (s 299). Tick any other item the job involves, such as a confined space, energised electrical installations or services, a road in use, or powered mobile plant movement.

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 Fixed Ladder 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:

• Falls while installing at height
• Dropped components and tools
• Crush injuries from heavy ladder sections
• Crane and hoist load control
• Silica dust from drilling anchors
• Anchor failure from poor substrate
• Hitting reinforcement or services when drilling
• Fire and fume from site welding
• Elevating work platform instability
• Rescue from harness or platform
• Wrong ladder angle or spacing
• Pinch points while bolting

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:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction, and permits required by the site owner
• High risk work licence for the scaffolding class that matches the scaffold (basic, intermediate or advanced) for anyone erecting, altering or dismantling a scaffold from which a person or object could fall more than 4 m
• High risk work licence for the boom-type elevating work platform class where the boom is 11 m or more
• High risk work licence for dogging, where loads are slung or a crane operator is directed without a view of the load; and the crane class licence where Schedule 3 requires one
• Training in harness use, fall arrest and rescue for workers who use harness systems
• Welding qualifications for anyone welding on site
• Respirator fit test and training for workers who wear P2 respirators

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Welding Processes 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
• Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones (Schedule 2)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 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.