Graffiti Removal SWMS

Suits graffiti removal contractors, council and facilities crews, cleaners and property managers who remove graffiti from walls, fences, signs, bridges and other structures. It follows the job in order, from checking the surface and choosing the method through chemical stripping, pressure washing, abrasive methods and ladder work to clean-up and waste. Water blaster operation, lead paint removal and painting need their own SWMS.

Graffiti removal is not high risk construction work by itself, so no items are pre-ticked. A SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 only when the job is construction work that includes a high risk item in s 291, for example a fall risk of more than 2 metres, work on or near energised electrical installations, or work beside a road in use; otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. If grinding or blasting concrete or masonry creates silica dust, tick the contaminated atmosphere item, 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 Graffiti Removal SWMS?

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

• Solvent vapour and chemical burns from strippers
• Fire from flammable solvents and rags
• Overspray and drift reaching the public and neighbours
• Slippery wet surfaces and runoff
• Falls from ladders
• Asbestos cement and lead paint under the graffiti
• Silica, lead and other dust from abrasive methods
• Blast nozzle, hose and high pressure injury
• Rebound from pressure washing
• Overhead lines and electrical cabinets
• Needles and human waste at graffiti sites
• Traffic beside roads and rail corridors
• Noise, heat and manual tasks

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) when the graffiti removal is construction work (WHS Regulation s 289), and the site or client induction
• Workers trained and assessed as competent in each removal method they use (chemical stripping, pressure washing, abrasive methods) and in the label and SDS of each product
• Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for graffiti removal or for the pressure washing and abrasive equipment used for it
• Training in abrasive blasting equipment (dead man control, blast hose, compressed air and airline respirator) before anyone blasts
• Fit-testing and training for every worker who wears a respirator
• Competent person to identify asbestos, arrange lead paint testing and help make the written dust assessment before surfaces are disturbed
• Asbestos awareness so crews recognise suspect sheeting and surfaces, stop work and report them; workers the business reasonably believes may be involved in asbestos removal work or asbestos-related work also need the asbestos identification, safe handling and control measures training that WHS Regulation s 445 requires (asbestos work is outside this SWMS)
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) where the dust assessment finds grinding, sanding or blasting of concrete, render, brick or sandstone high risk (s 529CD)
• Accredited traffic controllers where traffic control is needed on or beside a road
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42), including eye wash for chemical splashes

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021 (decanted containers)
• Abrasive Blasting Code of Practice 2021
• Spray Painting and Powder Coating Code of Practice 2021 (spraying outdoors: drift, wind and exclusion zones)
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (plant, including pressure equipment)
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (outdoor work, heat and UV)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (eye wash and shower equipment)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (work beside a road)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2, and construction work equipment (s 140)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• 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
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (20 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.