Machinery Moving with Skates and Jacks SWMS

Suits machinery movers, riggers, millwrights and maintenance crews who relocate lathes, presses, switchboards and other heavy plant inside and between buildings. It follows the job from the move plan and service disconnection through jacking, skating, pulling and steering to landing, levelling and reconnection. Pianos and safes, office moves and crane lifts need their own SWMS.

Moving machinery 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). If the move is part of construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 metres or movement of powered mobile plant. Otherwise the document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment that you tailor to your equipment and each job.

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

What Is Covered In Our Machinery Moving with Skates and Jacks SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the move and assess the machine and the route” to “Clean up, pack up and record”. The hazards and controls include:

• Machine tipping or running away on skates
• Crush zones between the machine and walls
• Jacks failing or kicking out
• Cribbing and working under a raised load
• Floor, slab and pit cover loading
• Pull gear snap-back
• Strains from pushing and pulling
• Forklifts and gantries near the move
• Services disconnected and reconnected
• Hydraulic oil and spills
• Asbestos in older machines
• Thresholds, ramps and doorways

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

• Machinery move leader trained and assessed as competent in planning and supervising machinery moves with load skates, rollers and toe jacks, including estimating the weight and the centre of gravity of the machine
• Crew trained in the safe use of the skates, rollers and jacks, their rated capacities and the cribbing method
• High risk work licence in the forklift truck class for any person operating a forklift truck on the move (WHS Regulation s 81, Schedule 3); a licence class for any crane or gantry used is a matter for the separate lifting SWMS
• Licensed electrical worker to disconnect and later reconnect the machine’s electrical supply (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• Water and gas service disconnections made by the person licensed for that service (Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018; Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004); compressed air and hydraulic lines disconnected by a person trained and competent in that system
• General construction induction training card (white card) only where the move is part of construction work, and the site induction
• First aid equipment and facilities, and the person appointed as the job’s first aider (WHS Regulation s 42)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 60: hazardous manual tasks, including pushing, pulling and moving loads
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 208, 210 and 213: guarding, operator controls that can be locked off, and maintenance and inspection of plant
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 214, 215 and 219: powered mobile plant and plant that lifts or suspends loads
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 81 and Schedule 3: licences for forklift trucks and crane classes
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 422: identifying or assuming asbestos in older machines
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 344 and 351: safety data sheets and hazardous chemical risks
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant 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 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)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 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: safety boots with steel or composite toe caps; cut-resistant work gloves; no loose gloves near jacks, chains and rollers; safety glasses
• Emergency arrangements for: machine tipping or running away, person trapped under or against the machine and hydraulic oil injection, or oil or fuel spill
• 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.