Rail Corridor Works SWMS

Suits civil, track, utility and building contractors who work inside or beside a rail corridor under the rail infrastructure manager’s access arrangements. It follows the job in order: approval and planning, entering the corridor, protection from trains, overhead lines and lineside cables, plant, the work itself, night work and fatigue, emergencies and handback. The manager’s rules, permits and protection arrangements always apply and this template does not replace them. Road traffic control at crossings needs its own SWMS.

Rail corridor work is construction work when it builds, alters, repairs or maintains track or another structure (WHS Regulation s 289(1)), but not when it is only inspection, or testing, maintenance or repair of a minor nature (s 289(3)(d)). Construction work on, in or adjacent to a railway in use by traffic other than pedestrians is high risk construction work (s 291(n)), so that item is ticked; a line closed to every train for the whole job may not be in use, so check s 291(n). Tick the energised installations or services item (s 291(k)) where overhead traction lines, lineside power or energised signalling cables are on or near the work, and the powered mobile plant item (s 291(o)) where plant moves in the area, because neither is on every job. For work that is not construction work, a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (s 299), and the document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment.

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

What Is Covered In Our Rail Corridor Works SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Get access approval and agree the work with the rail infrastructure manager” to “Finish the work and hand the corridor back to the manager”. The hazards and controls include:

• Struck by a train or rail vehicle
• Loss of track protection or warning
• Contact with overhead traction lines and lineside cables
• Plant colliding with workers in the corridor
• Plant or materials left fouling the track
• Slips and trips on ballast and embankments
• Manual handling of track components
• Silica dust, noise and hazardous chemicals
• Night work, fatigue and heat
• Lightning, damaging winds and flooding
• Delayed emergency response in a remote corridor
• Tools or workers left in the corridor at handback

High Risk Construction Work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Is carried out on, in or adjacent to a road, railway, shipping lane or other traffic corridor that is in use by traffic other than pedestrians

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work in the corridor (WHS Regulation ss 316 and 317), plus the rail infrastructure manager’s own site induction and any principal contractor site induction
• The track access training, competencies and induction that the rail infrastructure manager requires for its corridor, and any health assessment or drug and alcohol testing it requires (the manager sets these and the crew follows them)
• Protection officer, lookout and similar protection roles (the manager’s rules may use other role names) filled only by people the rail infrastructure manager has trained and authorised for the protection arrangement in use
• Plant operators competent in the plant they run, and trained in the manager’s rules for plant working in or beside the corridor
• High risk work licence only where Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation requires one for the class of plant used (for example a crane or forklift truck class); the dogging class or a higher rigging class for anyone who slings a load or directs a plant operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Licensed electrical worker for any electrical work, including work on signalling and traction equipment, unless an exclusion in section 18(2) of the Electrical Safety Act 2002 applies (s 55); this SWMS does not cover electrical work
• Accredited traffic controllers for anyone who stops or directs road traffic at a level crossing or road access point (covered by the separate Traffic Management SWMS)
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders or access to them (WHS Regulation s 42)

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 291(n) (high risk construction work on, in or adjacent to a railway in use by traffic other than pedestrians; items (k) energised installations or services and (o) powered mobile plant where they apply) and ss 299 to 303 (safe work method statements)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 214 and 215 (powered mobile plant), ss 40 to 44 (general facilities and heat, drinking water, first aid, emergency plans, personal protective equipment), s 48 (remote or isolated work), ss 56 and 57 (noise), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks) and ss 316 and 317 (construction induction)
• Rail Safety National Law (Queensland) Act 2017: not reproduced here; the rail infrastructure manager’s rules for access, permits and protection apply in addition to this SWMS, which states no protection method, warning time or distance
• Managing Risks of Plant 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
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (where a mobile crane lifts track components)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 15 and schedule 2 (overhead and underground electric lines, exclusion zones)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controller accreditation
• 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 (17 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: safety boots with ankle support and non-slip soles (steel toe cap); high-visibility clothing of the class and colour the rail infrastructure manager requires, with retroreflective trim for night work
• Emergency arrangements for: person struck by a train or plant, warning of an approaching train or loss of protection and contact with an overhead line or lineside cable (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.