Hazardous Chemical or Substance SWMS

Suits trades, cleaners, painters, maintenance crews and workshops that bring hazardous chemicals onto a site or workplace. It follows the work from choosing the chemical and reading the SDS through moving, decanting, applying, spraying, storing, spill response and waste disposal.

Using or storing hazardous chemicals is not high risk construction work by itself, so WHS Regulation s 299 does not require a SWMS for it unless the work also meets an item in s 291, such as a confined space or a flammable atmosphere; otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure or chemical task risk assessment.

New to SWMS? Read What is a safe work method statement?

What is covered in our hazardous chemical or substance SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the work: choose the chemical and assess the risk” to “Clean up, dispose of waste and finish”. The hazards and controls include:

• Fire and explosion from flammable liquids and vapour
• Solvent vapour, mist and fume inhalation
• Skin and eye burns from splashes of concentrate
• Isocyanate and two-pack paint exposure
• Spray drift and overspray
• Incompatible chemicals reacting
• Unlabelled and decanted containers
• Spills, leaks and drain contamination
• Work in enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces
• Chemical storage, manifest and placard quantities
• Hazardous manual tasks moving drums and containers
• Solvent-soaked rags and chemical waste

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

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction, including the site rules for bringing in, storing and disposing of chemicals
• Training in the hazards, safe use, storage and emergency response for each chemical, including how to read its label and SDS
• Fit testing and training for any tight-fitting respirator, and training in supplied-air breathing equipment where it is required
• Training in the spray equipment and product when spraying is part of the task
• Air monitoring, where needed, carried out by a competent person such as an occupational hygienist

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
• Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Spray Painting and Powder Coating Code of Practice 2021 (when spraying)
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021 (enclosed work areas)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (ventilation)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• AS/NZS 4114 Spray painting booths, designated spray painting areas and paint mixing rooms (as named in the Spray Painting and Powder Coating code)
• AS/NZS 1020 The control of undesirable static electricity (as named in the Spray Painting and Powder Coating code)

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (16 pages), laid out on 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: chemical-resistant gloves of the material the SDS specifies; safety glasses with side shields; goggles or a face shield when splashing is possible
• Emergency arrangements for: chemical in the eyes or on the skin, spill or leak and fire or toxic fumes
• 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.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed November 2026.