Roadside Surveying SWMS

Suits surveyors, field assistants, service locators and engineering crews who take measurements, levels and marks beside roads in use. It covers planning to keep the crew off the carriageway, parking the survey vehicle, crew positions and lookouts, high-visibility clothing and beacons, radio communications, instruments and poles near overhead lines, pegging near underground services, and the sun, snakes and lone work that come with roadside work. Traffic control and surveying on construction sites need their own SWMS.

A roadside survey for design, boundary or mapping where nothing is being built is not construction work by itself, so no item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). If the survey is construction work, tick the item for work on or adjacent to a road in use by traffic other than pedestrians, and the powered mobile plant and energised services items where they apply; otherwise 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 Roadside Surveying SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the survey and choose the method that keeps the crew off the road” to “Pack up, record the survey and leave the site”. The hazards and controls include:

• Surveyors struck by passing traffic
• Survey vehicle struck at the roadside
• Crew positioned in or near a live lane
• Poor visibility in low light, glare and rain
• Radio and warning calls not heard over traffic
• Survey poles touching overhead power lines
• Pegs and pins striking underground services
• Tripods and instruments hit or toppled
• Heat, sun and dehydration
• Snakes, ticks and insect bites in long grass
• Slips on drains and embankments
• Working alone on a remote road
• Fatigue on the drive home

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

• Surveyors and field assistants competent in the instruments used (total station, GNSS receiver and rover, levels, tripods and poles) and trained in the lookout role
• Working in Proximity to Traffic training (Department of Transport and Main Roads online course, Parts 1 and 2) for workers on or next to a road, as the Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 recommends (the code names the course; it is a recommendation, not a legal requirement)
• Accredited traffic controllers for anyone who stops or directs traffic (directing traffic is covered by the separate Traffic Management SWMS)
• Traffic Management Implement training for anyone who implements a traffic management plan, as the code recommends (set-up and removal are covered by the separate Static Traffic Control Setup and Removal SWMS)
• General construction induction training card (white card) where the survey is construction work (WHS Regulation s 316), and a site induction where the road is part of a worksite
• Current driver licence for the class of survey vehicle
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders or access to them (WHS Regulation s 42), including snake bite and heat illness first aid
• Workers who work alone trained in the check-in system, the emergency procedure and the satellite phone or personal locator beacon where one is used

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 289, 291(n) and 299 (meaning of construction work; high risk construction work on, in or adjacent to a road in use by traffic other than pedestrians; safe work method statements)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 48 (remote or isolated work), ss 40 and 41 (facilities, heat and drinking water), s 42 (first aid), s 44 (personal protective equipment), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks) and ss 316 and 317 (construction induction)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices Part 3 (MUTCD Part 3), as the Traffic Management code names it; the manual is not reproduced here and this SWMS gives no sign order, taper, buffer distance or speed
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld): section 72A, official traffic signs installed in the way the MUTCD specifies
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controller accreditation
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (outdoor work, section 4.1, and remote or isolated work, section 4.2)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (Appendix E: outdoor and remote modules)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• 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)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (16 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 10 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
• Emergency arrangements for: person struck by a vehicle, pole, staff or tape touches a power line and snake or spider bite
• 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.