Locksmith Services SWMS

For locksmiths and mobile security technicians working on mechanical locks at homes, shops, offices and roadsides. It covers taking the job and arranging lone-worker contact, non-destructive entry, vehicle lockouts, ladders, drilling and cutting locks, fitting and rekeying, key-cutting machines and handover. Electric locks and access control are written as a separate SWMS.

A SWMS is required by law for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). Locksmith work is not high risk construction work on its own; tick the item for a risk of falling more than 2 m if a job involves it. Otherwise it works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment.

New to SWMS? Read What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?

What Is Covered In Our Locksmith Services SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Take the call, plan the job and arrange lone-worker contact” to “Test the lock, secure the premises and hand over”. The hazards and controls include:

• Aggression and threats at call-outs
• Lone and after-hours work
• Roadside traffic and car park hazards
• Hand injuries when picking and rekeying
• Child or animal locked in a hot vehicle
• Door airbags and electric vehicle cables
• Falls from ladders to high locks
• Swarf, sparks and drilling noise
• Masonry dust when drilling
• Key-cutting machine entanglement
• Lock fitting that traps people inside
• Leaving premises unsecured

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

• The appropriate security provider licence, held by a person who for reward installs, repairs, services or maintains locks and safes, which are mechanical security equipment (Security Providers Act 1993 (Qld) ss 6B, 8A and 9); retail key cutting is excluded from s 6B, and so is installing a basic security item (such as a door lock, window lock or padlock) in a building the person owns or occupies, or in another person’s building during its construction, repair or renovation
• General construction induction training card (white card) where the work is construction work, such as fitting hardware during a building project
• Site induction where the job is at a workplace or construction site
• Training in lock opening, rekeying and the tools and machines used
• Training in the safe use of drills, grinders and the key-cutting machine
• First aid trained worker and first aid kit in the work vehicle (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Training in working alone and in managing aggression and conflict

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 42, 48, 56, 57, 208, 291, 306M, 342, 344, 351
• Security Providers Act 1993 (Qld): ss 6B, 8A and 9
• Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 9 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: safety glasses or a face shield; cut-resistant gloves, removed for small parts and springs; hearing protection for drilling, grinding and the key-cutting machine; enclosed safety footwear
• Emergency arrangements for: child or animal locked in a vehicle, threat or aggression and fall from height or cut
• 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. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.

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