Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Safe Work Procedure

Suits plumbers, drainers, sewer and civil crews, waste and cleaning businesses, and farms or sites with pits, tanks and sludge where hydrogen sulfide (H2S) may collect. It puts the Regulation’s air monitoring and confined space duties into steps people can follow, and keeps rescue with trained people.

What Is Included In Our Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Safe Work Procedure?

• Safe work procedure with an approval sign-off
• Where H2S may be present and what the Confined Spaces code says about it
• Asking first whether anyone needs to go in
• Confined space check against the Schedule 19 definition, and the risk assessment
• Exposure standard and air monitoring (WHS Regulation ss 49 and 50) without quoting a figure
• Isolating, testing, ventilating, ignition sources, permit and signs
• Stand-by person, alarms and leaving at once
• No heroic rescue: trained rescuers with air supplied equipment
• First aid, notification and keeping the site
• Records, training, review and legislation references

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld): s 19 (primary duty of care), s 26A (approved codes of practice), s 28 (duties of workers), ss 35 to 39 (notifiable incidents, including ss 36(c) and 37(c)), ss 47 to 49 (consultation)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 32 to 38 (risk management), s 39 (information, training and instruction), s 42 (first aid), s 43 (emergency plans), s 48 (remote or isolated work), s 49 (exposure standards), s 50 (monitoring airborne contaminant levels), ss 51 to 53 (hazardous atmospheres, ignition sources and flammable material)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), confined spaces: Part 4.3, ss 62 to 77, and the definitions of confined space and exposure standard in Schedule 19
• Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld): s 133 (employer’s report of an injury)
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021 (Qld): sections 3.2 to 3.4 and 4.6. Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024 (Qld): appendix 10. Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (Qld): appendix H. These are approved codes of practice, and a business must follow an approved code or manage the risk in a way that gives an equivalent or higher standard (WHS Act s 26A)
• The Workplace Exposure Standard for Airborne Contaminants is the document the Regulation points to for exposure standards. It is not reproduced here
• We found no Queensland rule that sets an H2S alarm setting, detector test standard or sewer entry rule beyond the sections above. The maker’s instructions and the competent person’s risk assessment set them
• This document is general information for Queensland workplaces and is not legal advice

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (7 pages), A4 portrait
• Business details and document control typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• Purpose, scope and a policy statement with an approval sign-off
• Definitions, and responsibilities for each role
• A step-by-step procedure that says who does what
• Records, training, monitoring and review, related documents and a revision history

Review it and adjust it to suit your business, your sites and the way your team works, and talk it through with your workers. If you have any trouble downloading this template, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading.