Office Relocation SWMS

For removalists, office movers and businesses moving their own office. It covers moving offices, including manual handling of furniture and files, trolleys, lifts, trip hazards and truck loading, from planning and packing through dismantling, moving, loading and unloading to setting up at the new office. It does not cover office work safety or manual handling in general; the Office Safety SWMS and the Manual Handling SWMS cover those.

An office move is not construction work by itself, so no item is pre-ticked on the high risk construction work list in the WHS Regulation (section 291). A SWMS is legally required only for high risk construction work (section 299); otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. If the move forms part of construction work, such as removing fixed partition walls or fit-out, tick the reg 291 items that apply, for example a fall of more than 2 m or movement of powered mobile plant.

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

What Is Covered In Our Office Relocation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the move and assess both premises” to “Heat, fatigue, after-hours work and handover”. The hazards and controls include:

• Back and shoulder strain from furniture and files
• Filing cabinets and shelves tipping
• Trolley and hand truck collisions
• Crush injuries in lifts and doorways
• Falls while carrying on stairs
• Trips over boxes, cables and floor protection
• Falls from the truck deck and tail lift
• Load shifting in the truck
• Cuts from glass and broken items
• Electric shock when disconnecting equipment
• Heat, fatigue and working after hours
• Suspected asbestos in older buildings

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

• Training in hazardous manual task risks and in the use of trolleys, hand trucks, sliders and other lifting aids
• Training in team lifting: one person in charge, matched workers and a rehearsed lift
• Verified competence for anyone who operates the truck tail lift or ramp
• Driver licence for the class of truck being driven
• Site and building induction covering lift use, evacuation, access and after-hours rules
• Workers trained in first aid, with first aid provided as s 42 of the WHS Regulation requires
• Licensed electrical worker for any hardwired electrical disconnection or reconnection (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• General construction induction training card (white card) only if the job includes construction work, such as removing fixed partition walls or fit-out

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 (managing risks of a musculoskeletal disorder from hazardous manual tasks)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 40 (general workplace facilities), s 42 (first aid), ss 44 and 46 (personal protective equipment)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)
• Heavy Vehicle National Law (Queensland), applied by the Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012 (Qld): s 6 (heavy vehicle means a vehicle with a GVM or ATM of more than 4.5 t), s 26C (primary duty of each party in the chain of responsibility), s 96 (compliance with mass requirements), s 110 (national regulations may prescribe loading requirements), s 111 (compliance with the loading requirements) and s 228 (duty of driver to avoid driving while fatigued or unfit to drive)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): s 55 (only licensed electrical workers do electrical work)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 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 toe protection and non-slip soles; gloves suited to the task (cut-resistant gloves for glass and sharp-edged items); safety glasses when dismantling furniture or handling glass
• Emergency arrangements for: person trapped by a load, trolley or lift door, lift stops between floors and suspected spinal or serious back 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. 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.