Order Picker SWMS

For warehouses and distribution centres that run order picking forklifts with an elevating operator platform. It follows the work from pre-start and battery charging through travel in aisles and picking at height to rescue arrangements and parking.

Order picking in a warehouse is not construction work by itself. A SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 only for high risk construction work, so otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. If the work is construction work, tick the items that apply, for example movement of powered mobile plant.

Learn More: What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?
Have you ever been asked to provide a SWMS on a project in Queensland? Read our guide to what a Safe Work Method Statement is and when you need one.

What Is Covered In Our Order Picker SWMS?

The job steps run in the order the work is done, from pre-start checks to finishing up. The hazards and controls include:

• Fall from the elevated operator platform
• Order picker tip-over
• Collision with pedestrians and other trucks
• Operator trapped between the truck and racking
• Items falling from racking
• Overloaded or unstable loads
• People lifted on forks or pallets
• Operator stranded at height and suspension trauma
• Battery gases and acid burns
• Faulty gate, brakes, steering and lowering controls
• Cold stress, noise and fatigue
• Unattended truck misuse

High Risk Construction Work

No high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this work is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick the items that apply to your job, such as a fall risk of more than 2 metres or work where powered mobile plant is moving.

Licences, Training and Competency

• High risk work licence for the order-picking forklift truck class (WHS Regulation Schedule 3 item 25). The forklift truck class (item 24) is ‘use of a forklift truck other than an order-picking forklift truck’, so on the text of Schedule 3 it does not cover an order picker
• An order-picking forklift truck is a forklift truck whose operator’s controls are incorporated with the lifting media and elevate with it (Schedule 19)
• Trainee operators enrolled in a licence course work only under the supervision of a licence holder (WHS Regulation s 82)
• Verification of competency for the order picker model, its operator platform controls and emergency lowering
• Training in harness use and rescue where the operator’s platform requires a harness
• General construction induction training card (white card) when working on a construction site
• Site induction covering aisle rules, pedestrian routes, speed limits and emergency arrangements

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces 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 Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace 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
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 214, 215 and 218 (powered mobile plant and industrial lift trucks)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 78 and 79 (falls); ss 56 and 57 (noise)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages
• Business, client, job and document details typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• The high risk construction work checklist, worded as WHS Regulation s 291, and the construction project question (s 292)
• A worker and health and safety representative consultation record
• Qualifications, plant, PPE, hazardous chemicals, safety equipment, permits, references and emergency arrangements filled in for this work
• A 5 x 5 risk matrix, and job steps with initial and residual risk scores and the people responsible
• Implementing, monitoring and review requirements, an additional controls log, revision history and a worker sign-on sheet

Review and adjust it for your site, your plant and the way your crew does the job, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. If you have any trouble downloading this SWMS, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.