Gearbox and Electric Motor Removal and Installation SWMS

For maintenance fitters, mechanics, plant servicing crews and workshops who remove and install gearboxes and electric motors on machinery. It follows the job from planning and isolation through electrical disconnection, lifting out, fitting, alignment, reconnection and the test run. Bearing work and hydraulic system work have their own SWMS.

Removing and installing gearboxes and electric motors on plant in a workshop, factory, farm or plant room is not construction work by itself, so no high risk construction work item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is not legally required for it (WHS Regulation s 299 applies to high risk construction work); the document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. If the job is part of construction work, tick any reg 291 item that applies, such as falls over 2 metres (item a) or work near energised electrical installations or services (item k). Disconnecting and reconnecting the supply wiring of a motor operated above extra low voltage is electrical work that only a licensed electrical worker may do (Electrical Safety Act 2002 ss 14, 18 and 55).

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

What Is Covered In Our Gearbox and Electric Motor Removal and Installation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job and identify the unit, its mass, lifting points and energy sources” to “Clean up, dispose of waste and record the work”. The hazards and controls include:

• Plant starting while someone is at the drive
• Stored energy released when connections are opened
• Electric shock from motor supply wiring and capacitors
• Electrical work done without a licence
• Dropped or swinging motors and gearboxes
• Crush injuries between the unit and its base
• Failure of slings, eyebolts and lifting points
• Hot gearbox oil burns and spills
• Manual handling of couplings, covers and plates
• Shaft and coupling contact during alignment
• Wrong rotation or missing guards at first start-up
• Noise, vibration and heat during the test run

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

• Trade qualification or equivalent competency in mechanical maintenance for the plant being worked on; the maintenance, inspection and testing of plant must be done by a competent person (WHS Regulation s 213)
• Licensed electrical worker for disconnecting and reconnecting the supply wiring of a motor operated above extra low voltage, and for testing the circuit before it is energised (Electrical Safety Act 2002 ss 14, 18(1) and 55); the fitter does not touch supply wiring
• Training in the lock-out and tag-out procedure used by the business, and in the plant maker’s isolation procedure for the machine
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3 items 4 to 7), for anyone who slings a load, or directs a plant operator moving a load that is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19 ‘dogging work’); a separate lifting plan or SWMS covers crane lifts
• Operators of cranes, hoists and lifting devices trained and competent on the lifting plant used, and licensed where Schedule 3 names a high risk work licence class for it
• Workers who use a laser alignment tool trained in its proper operation where the laser may create a risk (WHS Regulation s 223(1) and (5))
• Site induction; general construction induction training card (white card) only if the work is on a construction site
• An adequate number of workers trained in first aid, or access to trained people, with first aid equipment and facilities (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): plant ss 206, 208, 210, 213 and 219 (proper use, guarding, operator controls, maintenance and inspection, lifting and suspending loads)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 56 and 57 (noise), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks), s 78 (falls), s 223 (lasers), s 357 (containing and managing spills of hazardous chemicals) and s 419 (asbestos)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (isolating energy sources, if the machine is rural plant)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): meaning of electrical equipment (s 14) and electrical work (s 18); electrical work needs a licensed electrical worker (s 55)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 195 to 198 (part 8, division 3: testing to decide whether equipment is energised before electrical work, not re-energising de-energised equipment, and warning signs and locks by licensed electrical workers); ss 199 and 200 (safe work method statement for electrical work on or near energised equipment)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (19 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 11 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 a face shield when draining hot oil, using a puller or wire brushing; safety boots with toe protection and oil-resistant soles
• Emergency arrangements for: crush or trapping by the unit or lifting gear, electric shock and hot oil 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.