Flat Top Trailer Chain and Strap Load Restraint SWMS

For transport operators, farms, machinery movers, builders and tradespeople who carry loads on flat-top trailers and trucks. It follows the work from inspecting the gear and planning the restraint to fitting, tensioning, driving, releasing and stowing.

Load restraint on a trailer is not high risk construction work by itself, so no high risk construction work item is pre-ticked; a SWMS is legally required only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299), and otherwise 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 risk of a fall of more than 2 metres (item a) or work on or next to a road in use by traffic (item n).

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

What Is Covered In Our Flat Top Trailer Chain and Strap Load Restraint SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Inspect the trailer, chains, straps and load binders” to “Stow chains, straps and binders”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from the trailer deck or load
• Chain or strap failure and snap-back
• Load binder handle kickback
• Load shifting or falling in transit
• Crush when the load moves or is released
• Restraints cut by sharp edges
• Overloading and overhang
• Slips on wet or oily decks
• Manual handling of chains and binders
• Fatigue on long trips

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

• Driver licence for the class of vehicle driven
• Training and verified competency in load restraint, including chains, straps and load binders
• Training in any plant used to load or unload, where a separate SWMS applies
• General construction induction training card (white card) when the work is construction work or the site requires it
• Site induction and the yard or site traffic rules

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland), applied by the Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012 (Qld): s 6 (heavy vehicle means a vehicle with a GVM or ATM of more than 4.5 t), s 26C (primary duty of each party in the chain of responsibility), s 96 (compliance with mass requirements), s 110 (national regulations may prescribe loading requirements), s 111 (compliance with the loading requirements) and s 228 (duty of driver to avoid driving while fatigued or unfit to drive)
• National Load Restraint Guide (National Heavy Vehicle Regulator): guidance, not law
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (section 8.4, transporting rural plant)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)

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
• 10 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 with a non-slip sole; gloves for handling chains and straps; safety glasses when tensioning binders; high-visibility clothing
• Emergency arrangements for: load shift or loss on the road and person struck or crushed by a load
• 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.