Portable Concrete Mixer SWMS

For concreters, landscapers, builders and maintenance crews who mix concrete on site in a portable mixer. It follows the job from siting the mixer and loading bags through mixing, placing and wash-out, with extra attention to silica and cement dust.

A SWMS is required under s 299 of the WHS Regulation when the mixing is part of high risk construction work, for example near energised services, in a trench over 1.5 m deep, with a fall risk over 2 m or where heavy dry mixing creates silica dust (tick the contaminated atmosphere item, s 291(l)); otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment.

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

What is covered in our portable concrete mixer SWMS template?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Set up the mixing area” to “Pack up and complete the work”. The hazards and controls include:

• Silica and cement dust from dry materials
• Hands, hair or clothing caught in the drum
• Mixer tipping or rolling on soft ground
• Strains from lifting bags and moving the mixer
• Electric shock from leads and wet connections
• Fire and exhaust fumes from engine mixers
• Wet concrete burns to skin and eyes
• Noise from engines and aggregate
• Heat illness and sun exposure
• Overhead power line contact
• Silica dust from chipping hardened concrete
• Slips and trips on wet ground

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
• Instruction in the safe use of the mixer from the manufacturer’s manual or a competent person
• Instruction in fitting, using and caring for the respirator, with a fit test for each worker who wears a tight-fitting respirator
• Crystalline silica training for workers where the dust work is assessed as high risk

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 respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace 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
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): construction electrical equipment and overhead power line exclusion zones
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace

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
• 9 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: fit-tested respirator complying with AS/NZS 1716, for example a half-face respirator with a P2 filter, when handling dry cement, sand or premix and when chipping hardened concrete; safety glasses
• Emergency arrangements for: person caught in the drum or drive, wet cement in the eyes and heat illness
• 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 October 2026.