Herbicide and Pesticide Spraying SWMS

Suits grounds, parks, council and roadside crews and spray contractors who apply herbicides and pesticides with a hose reel on a ute, truck or ATV. It covers the pre-start check, planning and weather, filling the unit, travel on slopes, exclusion zones, spraying, power lines and waterways, blockages, and rinsate. Boom spraying, knapsack and hand-wand spraying, building pest control and bulk chemical mixing each use a separate SWMS.

Spraying in grounds, parks and roadsides is not high risk construction work by itself, so no item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299); this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment that you tailor to your site. If the work is part of construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, for example movement of powered mobile plant, a road in use, or 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 Herbicide and Pesticide Spraying SWMS?

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

• Operator exposure to herbicides and pesticides
• Spray drift onto people, buildings and waterways
• Vehicle or ATV rollover with a loaded tank
• Operator ejected from an ATV or tray
• Hose whip and pressurised leaks
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Public entering the spray zone
• Roadside traffic
• Chemical spills while mixing and filling
• Contaminated rinsate and wash water
• Heat illness in chemical PPE
• Using a product contrary to its label

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

• Training for each sprayer in the chemicals used (label and SDS), the spray unit, the vehicle or ATV and this SWMS, recorded by the PCBU (WHS Regulation s 39)
• Verification of competency on the hose-reel or vehicle-mounted unit before unsupervised work
• Spraying herbicide from ground equipment (ground distribution): the operator must hold a commercial operator’s licence or work under the supervision of a holder who is present throughout, and act in the course of a licensed contractor’s business, unless a defence applies, for example land that the operator, a relative or a primarily pastoral or agricultural employer owns or occupies (Agricultural Chemicals Distribution Control Act 1966 s 39(2), (3)); outside a hazardous area, hand-powered apparatus, compressed air or gas applied directly to the liquid without air blasting, and hose proportioning devices are not ground equipment (Regulation 2021 s 5); the Act covers herbicides, not other pesticides; check the position for your equipment and site before the job
• Pest management licence or authority where the work is a pest management activity; confirm with the licensing authority for your class of work (a pest management technician with the prescribed qualification is taken to hold a commercial operator’s licence for herbicide ground distribution, Act s 16A)
• Driver licence for the vehicle; crash helmet and minimum age for ATV operators (WHS Regulation ss 226A to 226C)
• Health monitoring where the Regulation requires it, for example for organophosphate pesticides (WHS Regulation s 368 and Sch 14)
• First aid training for the crew; at least access to a first aider (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Traffic control training or approval where spraying is beside a road open to traffic and the road manager requires it
• Site induction and the land manager’s chemical and access rules

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 39, 42, 48 and 60: training, first aid, remote or isolated work and hazardous manual tasks
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 56 and 57: noise exposure standard and managing hearing loss
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 206, 207, 213 to 215: plant use, plant not in use, maintenance and powered mobile plant
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 226A to 226C: quad bikes
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 52, 342, 344, 351, 357 and 368: ignition sources, labelling, SDS, hazardous chemical risks, spills and health monitoring
• Chemical Usage (Agricultural and Veterinary) Control Act 1988 (Qld): s 7 (unlabelled containers), s 10 (disposal of chemicals and packages), s 11B (reuse of chemical packages) and s 13(1) (a registered agricultural chemical product must be used only in a way stated on the approved label, unless a permit or regulation authorises another use)
• Agricultural Chemicals Distribution Control Act 1966 (Qld): ss 16A and 39(2), (3); Agricultural Chemicals Distribution Control Regulation 2021 (Qld) s 5
• 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
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (quad bikes, tractors and chemical systems, where it applies)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Dangerous Goods) Regulation 2018 (Qld): carrying chemicals in the work vehicle

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.