Road Crossing Trenching and Reinstatement SWMS

For civil, plumbing, drainage, electrical, telecommunications and utility contractors who cut a trench across a road to lay pipe, conduit or cable and then reinstate the pavement. It follows the work from planning and traffic management through locating services, cutting the pavement, excavating, supporting the trench, laying, backfilling and reinstating to making the trench safe overnight. Trenching in general and traffic control are covered by separate SWMS.

Trenching across a road is construction work: it is work connected with an excavation (WHS Regulation s 289(2)(f)). A SWMS is required by law for high risk construction work (s 299). The items for work on, in or adjacent to a road in use by traffic and for movement of powered mobile plant are pre-ticked because they apply to every road crossing. Tick the item for a trench with an excavated depth greater than 1.5 m if your trench is deeper than that, and the item for energised electrical installations or services if cables are near the crossing. Tick any other item that applies, for example a confined space or a contaminated atmosphere.

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 Road Crossing Trenching and Reinstatement SWMS?

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

• Road users running into the work zone
• Workers struck by plant and trucks
• Trench wall collapse and burial
• Striking underground gas, water, electric and telecommunications services
• Silica dust from cutting and breaking pavement
• Noise and vibration from saws, breakers and compactors
• Spoil and plant overloading the trench edge
• Falls into the open trench
• Burns from hot asphalt and bitumen
• Plates moving under traffic
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Trench left open overnight

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
• Is carried out in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for anyone doing construction work (WHS Regulation s 317)
• Traffic controllers accredited under the Queensland traffic controller accreditation scheme, where traffic controllers stop or direct traffic (see the Traffic Management SWMS)
• Persons who set up and remove traffic guidance schemes trained and competent for the work, following the approved traffic management plan
• No high risk work licence is required to operate an excavator, a loader, a roller or a compactor; Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no class for them
• Dogging licence for anyone who slings loads or directs a crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19 definition of dogging work and Schedule 3 class)
• Competent person to design or approve trench support, and to inspect the trench before entry (Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021)
• Trained person to use the cable and pipe locator and to mark underground services
• Workers trained in the use of the saw, breaker, compactor and paving equipment, with a licensed electrician for any electrical work
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (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): ss 304 to 306 (excavation work, underground essential services information and trenches)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 214 and 215 (powered mobile plant), ss 54 and 55 (falling objects)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): chapter 8A (crystalline silica) ss 529B to 529CD
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 315M (closure of part or all of an adjoining area)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Part 3, issued under the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controller accreditation
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 15 (overhead and underground electric lines) and the exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• 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 (16 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.