Gutter Cleaning SWMS

Suits gutter cleaning businesses, property maintenance crews and handymen who clear gutters from ladders, platforms or the roof edge. It covers planning, power lines at the eaves, ladder set-up and use, roof edge work, wasps and droppings, asbestos cement eaves, electrical equipment and pack-up.

Gutter cleaning on its own is not clearly high risk construction work: WHS Regulation s 289 lists maintenance and repair of a structure but not cleaning, and excludes only maintenance or repair of a minor nature. A SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299), so no item is ticked for you; otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. If your job is construction work, for example it includes gutter or roof repairs, or you decide it counts as maintenance of a structure, tick the items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 metres or work near energised electrical services.

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 Gutter Cleaning SWMS?

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

• Falls from ladders
• Ladders slipping or resting on gutters and windows
• Falls from roof edges and through fragile roofs
• Contact with overhead power lines and service cables
• Falling debris and tools hitting people below
• Wasp and bee stings and allergic reactions
• Infection from bird and rodent droppings and mould
• Disturbing asbestos cement eaves and gutters
• Cuts from sharp objects in gutters
• Electric shock from wet tools and leads
• Strains from reaching and lifting wet debris
• Heat, sun and working alone

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) where the job is construction work, for example gutter repairs or roof repairs done with the cleaning
• Training in how to inspect, set up and use portable ladders safely, and in the controls in this SWMS (the approved falls code recommends it for anyone who uses a ladder)
• No high risk work licence is needed for ladders, roof work or gutter cleaning; a licence is needed only for a boom-type elevating work platform with a boom length of 11 m or more (Schedule 3, item 21)
• Anyone who works on the roof is trained in the roof fall controls used on the job (edge protection, travel restraint or a fall arrest harness system) and in the rescue procedure
• A second person on site, or an agreed check-in system, when a worker is working alone
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Workers the PCBU reasonably believes may be involved in asbestos removal work or asbestos-related work are trained in the identification and safe handling of asbestos and ACM (WHS Regulation s 445); everyone else stops and reports anything that may be asbestos

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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 and Control Asbestos in the Workplace 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
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (guidance)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead electric lines, ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021: Managing electrical risks in the workplace

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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.