Retaining Wall Construction SWMS

Suits landscaping, civil, concreting and building contractors who build retaining walls from treated timber sleepers, concrete blocks or concrete. It follows the work from design and site checks through excavation and ground support, posts, wall building, drainage and backfill to making the site safe. Gabion and rock walls are outside this template, and general bricklaying, the concrete pour and operating the excavator are covered by separate SWMS.

Retaining wall construction is not high risk construction work by itself. A SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 only when the wall work is high risk construction work (s 291), so tick the powered mobile plant item when an excavator, skid steer or loader works in the area, the trench item when a cut or footing trench is deeper than 1.5 metres, the fall item for tall walls where a person could fall more than 2 metres, and the contaminated atmosphere item if cutting blocks or concrete creates silica dust, as the Queensland silica code advises. For a small wall built by hand this document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment, because excavation risks must still be managed (s 305).

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 Retaining Wall Construction SWMS?

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

• Starting without the design or approval building law requires
• Cut face and trench collapse
• Undermining neighbouring walls, fences and footings
• Hitting underground services and overhead power lines
• Workers struck by excavators and delivery trucks
• Falls into the excavation and from the top of the wall
• Heavy sleepers, blocks and posts crushing hands and backs
• Silica dust from cutting blocks and concrete sleepers
• Treated timber dust and saw kickback
• A part-built wall toppling before backfill
• Plant and compaction pushing the wall over
• Rain and water weakening the cut and the wall
• Open excavations left unguarded overnight

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

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Excavator, skid steer or loader operators trained and assessed as competent on the machine and its attachments (Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for earthmoving machinery)
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3 items 4 to 7), for anyone who slings a load or directs a plant operator in moving a load that is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work); the matching licence class for any crane or forklift truck that lifts materials
• Competent person to decide how the ground is supported and to inspect the excavation, and a geotechnical engineer for support design or written advice where the ground needs it (WHS Regulation s 306)
• Engineer to design and certify the wall and its footings when the wall is more than 1 m high (WorkSafe Queensland safety alert, Retaining wall collapse on construction site, 26 May 2026)
• Spotter or safety observer briefed on hand signals, the exclusion zone and the power line distances
• Trained operator for the cable and pipe locator
• Crystalline silica training where the dust assessment finds cutting or drilling blocks or concrete high risk (WHS Regulation s 529CD)
• Asbestos awareness training for workers who may meet buried or old material
• First aid equipment and facilities, and trained first aiders as the work and site need (WHS Regulation s 42)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021 (the wall designer’s duties)
• Formwork Code of Practice 2016 (formwork for concrete walls)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos 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
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (where a crane lifts materials)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (where the work is beside a road)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2, and underground electric lines (ss 14 and 15)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld) (licence rules for plumbing or drainage work on sewer or water pipes found in the excavation)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (21 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.