Free SWMS Template for Queensland

This free SWMS template for Queensland is a Microsoft Word safe work method statement you can fill in for your own job. A SWMS (safe work method statement) is a written plan for high risk construction work. It states the hazards, the controls, and how the controls will be put in place, monitored and reviewed.

The free SWMS template includes the high risk construction work checklist, a worker consultation record, a 5 x 5 risk matrix, a job steps table with three worked pre-start rows, an additional controls log, a revision history and a worker sign-on sheet.

This free Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) template is a Microsoft Word document set up for high risk construction work in Queensland. It is laid out on A4 landscape pages and follows the SWMS rules in the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), so you can turn it into a SWMS for your own job and crew.

Learn more: What is a safe work method statement?
New to SWMS? Read our plain-English guide to what a Safe Work Method Statement is and when you need one in Queensland.

What’s in the free SWMS template

• Type it once: your business name, ABN, SWMS title, location, client, document number, revision and dates fill in the header and footer of every page automatically.
• Your logo in a box at the top of every page.
• Project, parties and sign-off: the business doing the work (PCBU), the client and the principal contractor, the person responsible for the SWMS, and who prepared and approved it.
• High risk construction work checklist with all 18 items worded as they appear in section 291 of the WHS Regulation, plus the construction project question (section 292).
• Worker and health and safety representative consultation record for ten people, with room to add more.
• Boxes for qualifications and licences, plant, PPE, hazardous chemicals and Safety Data Sheets, safety equipment, permits, legislation and codes of practice, and emergency and rescue arrangements.
• 5 x 5 risk matrix with clear actions for each risk level and the hierarchy of control.
• Job steps table with initial and residual risk scores, three completed pre-start rows to show how it works, and blank rows for your own steps.
• Implementing, monitoring, review and record keeping requirements (WHS Regulation sections 299 to 303), an additional controls log, revision history and a worker sign-on sheet.

How to use the free SWMS template

The screenshots below show a filled-in copy for a made-up building business, so you can see what goes where. Open the template in Microsoft Word (desktop, or Word for the web) and click Enable Editing if Word asks. Save a copy for each job before you start.

1. Type your details once on page 1

Click into each grey box and type. The business name, ABN, SWMS title (Job Description), location, client and document details only need to be typed once: Word copies them into the header and footer of every page. Fill in the client and principal contractor columns for the job, and answer the construction project question. If the job is part of a construction project, the principal contractor needs a copy before the high risk construction work starts.

2. Add your logo

Click the empty box at the top left of any page, choose the picture icon and pick your logo file. Word fits it inside the box and shows it on every page.

3. Tick the high risk construction work and record who you consulted

On page 2, tick every item of high risk construction work that applies to the job. Then list the workers and health and safety representatives you consulted while preparing the SWMS, with their position and the date. To add more names, click in the last box of the table and press Tab.

4. List what the job needs

On page 3, list the licences and training, plant and equipment, PPE, hazardous chemicals (keep their Safety Data Sheets on site), safety equipment and signage, and any permits or site rules for the job. Each box has plenty of room and grows if you need more.

5. Add the laws and codes you used, and your emergency arrangements

On page 4, list the legislation and codes of practice you relied on, then fill in the emergency contacts, nearest medical centre, assembly point, first aider and first aid kit, and the rescue plan for this job.

6. Rate each risk with the matrix

Page 5 explains the scoring. For each hazard, pick how likely it is (L, 1 to 5) and how bad the outcome could be (C, 1 to 5). The risk score (S) is L times C. Score it twice: before controls (initial risk) and with your controls in place (residual risk), and follow the action for that score.

7. Write your job steps

Break the work into steps in the order they happen. For each step, list the hazards, the initial score, the control measures (start with the most effective, following the hierarchy of control), the residual score and who is responsible. The first three pre-start rows are already filled in as a guide; keep them, change them or replace them. To add rows, right-click a row and choose Insert, then Insert Rows Below. If you like, shade each S box to match its colour band (select the box, then Shading on the Table Design tab).

8. Brief the crew, sign on and keep it up to date

Before work starts, talk the SWMS through with everyone doing the work and have them sign the sign-on sheet. Record any extra controls agreed with workers on the additional controls page, and log every review on the revision history page. Keep a copy where workers can get to it until the work is finished.

What a SWMS must include in Queensland

Under section 299 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), a business must make sure a SWMS is prepared before high risk construction work starts. The SWMS must:

• identify the work that is high risk construction work;
• state the hazards of that work and the risks to health and safety;
• describe the measures that will control the risks; and
• describe how the control measures will be put in place, monitored and reviewed.

It must take into account the conditions at the workplace (and the WHS management plan if the work is part of a construction project), and it must be set out so the people using it can readily understand it. Where the only controls for a fall risk of more than 2 metres are administrative controls or PPE, the SWMS must describe all the controls that were considered.

Once it’s in place, the work must be done in line with the SWMS. If it isn’t, the work must stop as soon as it is safe and only restart in line with the SWMS (section 300). The SWMS must be reviewed, and revised if needed, whenever the related control measures are revised (section 302), and kept until the work is finished, or for at least 2 years if a notifiable incident happens (section 303).

Can I use a generic SWMS?

A template is a starting point, not a finished SWMS. Before you use it, change it to suit the actual job: the site, the plant, the people doing the work and the way the work is really done. Talk it through with your workers, add the hazards that are specific to the site, and review it whenever the job or the conditions change. One SWMS can cover several high risk construction work activities, as long as it deals with how they affect each other.

Learn more: How often do SWMS need to be reviewed (and how to review them)?
Read our guide on when a SWMS must be reviewed and how to do it.

Free SWMS template: frequently asked questions

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current law or talk to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland for your situation.