Manual Handling SWMS

Suits builders, trades, warehouse and delivery crews, labourers and maintenance teams who lift, carry, push and pull materials. It follows the work from planning the lift and setting up the route through trolleys, hoists, hand lifts, team lifts, sheets and bags, stairs and slopes, repetitive tasks and pack-up.

Manual handling is not high risk construction work by itself, so WHS Regulation s 299 does not require a SWMS for it; Queensland law requires the risks of hazardous manual tasks to be managed (WHS Regulation s 60); otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure or hazardous manual task risk assessment, and as a SWMS when the lifting is part of high risk construction work.

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

What is covered in our manual handling SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the task and assess the load, workers and route” to “Completion, pack-up and reporting”. The hazards and controls include:

• Back, shoulder and neck strains from lifting
• Crush injuries from dropped or tipping loads
• Overexertion on heavy, bulky or awkward loads
• Slips, trips and falls while carrying
• Trolley, hand truck and ramp hazards
• Cuts from sheets, banding and sharp edges
• Chemical containers and dusty bagged materials
• Poor communication during team lifts
• Carrying loads on stairs, slopes and uneven ground
• Repetitive strain and fatigue
• Injury risk for young, new and returning workers
• Wind catching large sheets

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
• Training in safe manual task techniques and in the use of the trolleys, hoists and lifting aids provided
• Instruction and close supervision for young, new and returning workers on their first heavy tasks
• High risk work licence of the relevant Schedule 3 class (crane, hoist or dogging) only if licensed lifting equipment or dogging work is used with the load

Legislation and codes of practice referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Children and Young Workers Code of Practice 2006
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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: safety boots with non-slip soles and toe protection; gloves suited to the material handled (cut-resistant gloves for sharp edges); safety glasses when handling sheet material, banding or chemicals
• Emergency arrangements for: manual handling injury, person trapped under or against a load and suspected spinal injury
• 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.