Glazing SWMS

Suits glaziers, window installers and builders who handle, cut and install glass panels, windows and shopfront glazing. It follows the job from planning panel sizes and routes through delivery and storage, removal of old glass, cutting, carrying, vacuum lifters, fixing at ground level and at height, sealing and cleaning up. It does not cover operating an elevating work platform or a vehicle loading crane, which need separate SWMS.

Glazing is not high risk construction work by itself. A SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 only when the job includes high risk construction work (s 291), for example a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres at upper-storey windows, balconies or roof glazing; for ground-level jobs it works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. Tick the fall item when it applies, and also energised electrical installations, powered mobile plant, or the contaminated atmosphere item if drilling masonry creates silica dust, as the Queensland silica code advises.

Learn More: What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?
Have you ever been asked to provide a SWMS on a project in Queensland? Read our guide to what a Safe Work Method Statement is and when you need one.

What Is Covered In Our Glazing SWMS?

The job steps run in the order the work is done, from pre-start checks to finishing up. The hazards and controls include:

• Cuts from broken glass and sharp edges
• Heavy panels crushing hands, feet and legs
• Strains from carrying large glass panels
• Vacuum lifter failure dropping a panel
• Racks and stillages tipping during delivery
• Glass falling on workers and the public
• Falls from openings, scaffolds and platforms
• Wind catching large panels
• Toughened glass breaking when cut or drilled
• Asbestos in old putty and frames
• Dust from drilling masonry and cutting frames
• Sealant and solvent fumes
• Overhead power lines near the work face

High Risk Construction Work

No high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this work is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick the items that apply to your job, such as a fall risk of more than 2 metres or work where powered mobile plant is moving.

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction
• Glazing trade training or supervised experience for every worker who handles, cuts or fixes glass; new workers work under an experienced glazier
• Vacuum lifter and glazing manipulator operators trained and assessed as competent on the make and model, including the pre-use checks and the working load limit (no Schedule 3 high risk work licence class names a vacuum lifter)
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3), for anyone who slings a load or directs a plant operator in the movement of a load when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work); crane and hoist lifting is done under its own SWMS
• Trained person in charge of each team lift, with agreed signals and a stop call
• First aid equipment, facilities and an adequate number of first aiders with current first aid training (or access to them), as the first aid assessment shows the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42); the training includes control of heavy bleeding from glass cuts
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) where the dust assessment finds the drilling high risk
• Training in the fall arrest system and the rescue plan for any worker who uses a harness system

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace 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
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities 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
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (shopfront work on or beside a road or footpath)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• AS/NZS 1716:2012 (Respiratory protective devices) and AS/NZS 1715:2009 (Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective equipment), as named in WHS Regulation s 529B

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (21 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages
• Business, client, job and document details typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• The high risk construction work checklist, worded as WHS Regulation s 291, and the construction project question (s 292)
• A worker and health and safety representative consultation record
• Qualifications, plant, PPE, hazardous chemicals, safety equipment, permits, references and emergency arrangements filled in for this work
• A 5 x 5 risk matrix, and job steps with initial and residual risk scores and the people responsible
• Implementing, monitoring and review requirements, an additional controls log, revision history and a worker sign-on sheet

Review and adjust it for your site, your plant and the way your crew does the job, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. If you have any trouble downloading this SWMS, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.