Fuel Powered Tools SWMS

Suits trades, grounds crews, farms, hire and maintenance teams that use small petrol and two-stroke tools such as cut-off saws, pole pruners and pumps. It follows the job in order: planning and choosing the tool, checking it, mixing and storing fuel, refuelling, starting, use, fumes, hot surfaces, noise and vibration, and packing up. Chainsaws, leaf blowers and brushcutters have their own SWMS.

Using a petrol or two-stroke tool is not high risk construction work by itself, so no item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). If the work is construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, for example a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres (reg 291(a)), an area that may have a flammable atmosphere (reg 291(l)) or work in an area with powered mobile plant moving (reg 291(o)). Otherwise the document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment that you tailor to your tools.

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

What Is Covered In Our Fuel Powered Tools SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job and choose the tool and the place” to “Shut down, cool, transport and store the tool”. The hazards and controls include:

• Fire when mixing, storing and refuelling petrol
• Spills, skin contact and petrol vapour
• Carbon monoxide in enclosed spaces
• Burns from hot mufflers and engines
• Grass fires from hot exhaust and sparks
• Contact with blades, discs and cutting parts
• Kickback and loss of control on starting
• Material thrown into the eyes and face
• Noise and hearing loss
• Hand-arm vibration
• Bystanders in the work area
• Fuel leaks during transport and storage

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

• Operator trained and assessed as competent on each petrol or two-stroke tool used, covering starting, stopping, refuelling, the cutting or working attachment and the maker’s safety instructions (no high risk work licence class applies)
• Training in handling petrol and two-stroke oil: labels, the SDS, mixing, storage and spill response (information, training and instruction: WHS Regulation s 39)
• Competent person to inspect, maintain and repair the tools to the maker’s recommendations (WHS Regulation s 213)
• General construction induction training card (white card) when the work is construction work on a construction site, and site induction
• Trained first aider available, with first aid equipment that suits cuts and burns (WHS Regulation s 42)

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 203, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210 and 213 (plant: managing risks, proper use, plant not in use, guarding, parts associated with heat, operational controls, maintenance and inspection)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 36 and 44 (hierarchy of control, personal protective equipment)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 49 to 53 (exposure standards, air monitoring, hazardous atmosphere, ignition sources, flammable stock)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): Part 7.1 applies to petrol in a separate container (ss 341, 342, 344, 346, 351, 353 and 357 to 359: labelling, safety data sheets, register, managing risks, safety signs where required, spills, protection from damage, firefighting equipment) but not to fuel in a container fitted to the tool for its own operation (s 328(4)(b))
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 56 to 58 (noise)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 60 (hazardous manual tasks, including exposure to vibration)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 42 and 43 (first aid, emergency plan)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021 (decanted fuel containers)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021 (exhaust gas from engines near an opening)
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (ventilation, heat and outdoor work)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): power line exclusion zones (ss 10 to 13 and Schedule 2)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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 glasses with side shields, or a face shield for cutting tools; hearing protection suited to the tool, used after other controls; safety boots with toe protection and non-slip soles
• Emergency arrangements for: fuel fire, carbon monoxide poisoning (headache, dizziness, nausea, collapse) and burn
• 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.