Front-End Loader SWMS

Suits earthmoving and civil contractors, builders and site supervisors who use a front-end loader to load, carry and tip soil, sand, rock and similar material. It covers pre-start checks, refuelling and servicing, traffic and pedestrian controls, working near power lines and underground services, slopes and edges, and dust, noise and heat.

New to SWMS? Read What is a safe work method statement?

What is covered in our front-end loader SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Pre-start loader inspection” to “Park, shut down and pack up”. The hazards and controls include:

• Pedestrians and plant struck in the loader’s path
• Loader overturning on slopes, soft ground and edges
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Striking underground services
• Overloaded bucket and falling material
• Attachment dropping off the quick hitch
• Fire or explosion during refuelling and servicing
• Crushing by lift arms and the articulation joint
• High-pressure hydraulic fluid injection
• Respirable crystalline silica dust and diesel fumes
• Noise, vibration and heat
• Unattended loader rolling away
• Stockpile face collapse

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:

• Is carried out in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant

Licences, training and competency

• Verification of competency for the front-end loader model, quick hitch and attachments used (no high risk work licence class applies to front-end loaders)
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction
• Spotters trained in the site’s hand signals or radio communication system
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) for workers where the dust assessment finds the processing high risk

Legislation and codes of practice referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Excavation Work 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
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace 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
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (earthmoving plant used as a crane, and quick hitches)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead and underground electric lines, exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 pages), laid out on 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 non-slip soles; long-sleeve high-visibility shirt and trousers; safety glasses; oil and fuel resistant gloves when refuelling, greasing or handling hoses
• Emergency arrangements for: loader overturning, power line contact and person struck or trapped
• 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.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed October 2026.