Plant Delivery and Collection SWMS

Suits plant hire companies, float and tray truck operators, hire yards and contractors who deliver and collect machinery and equipment to work sites. It follows the job from planning and pre-start checks through arriving on site, ramps and loading, load restraint, travel, hitching, unloading and collection. Loading machinery onto a low loader needs a separate SWMS.

Delivery and collection by truck is not construction work by itself, so the high risk construction work list in the WHS Regulation (section 291) does not apply and no item is pre-ticked; a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (section 299). The document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. If the delivery is part of construction work (for example work connected with an excavation or site preparation), tick the items that apply, such as movement of powered mobile plant, a fall of more than 2 m, and energised electrical installations or services.

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

What Is Covered In Our Plant Delivery and Collection SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the delivery or collection” to “Collect plant and check it for transport”. The hazards and controls include:

• Plant rolling or tipping off ramps and trays
• Ramp failure and incorrect ramp angle
• Crush injuries when handling ramps and trays
• Load movement and loss of load in transit
• Chains, straps and binders failing or springing back
• Overloaded axles and wrong truck for the plant
• Contact with overhead lines when the tray is raised
• Reversing into workers, plant or structures
• Soft ground and rollover at the unloading area
• Falls from the tray or trailer deck
• Hitching and unhitching trailers
• Driver fatigue and long-day travel

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

• Driver licence of the class that suits the truck and any trailer towed
• Training and assessed competency for the truck’s loading ramps, winch, tilt or slide-back tray and any truck-mounted crane or hiab used
• If a vehicle loading crane (capacity 10 metre tonnes or more) is used, the high risk work licence for the vehicle loading crane class (Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation); a dogging licence if the operator slings loads or directs a crane operator who cannot see the load
• Verification of competency to load, chain and unload the plant types delivered
• Site induction for each delivery and collection address
• Training in hazardous manual tasks for ramps, chains and straps
• Workers trained in first aid, with first aid provided as s 42 of the WHS Regulation requires

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
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (when the delivery is to a construction or maintenance site)
• 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)
• National Load Restraint Guide (National Heavy Vehicle Regulator): guidance, not law
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in sections 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines

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
• 11 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 slip-resistant soles and toe protection; high-visibility long-sleeve shirt and trousers; gloves suited to chains, straps and rope
• Emergency arrangements for: plant rolling off ramps or the tray and power line contact (general guidance)
• 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.