Roof Tiling SWMS

Suits roof tilers, roofing contractors and builders who lay new concrete or terracotta tiles. It follows the job in order, from checking the roof frame and setting the fall controls through edge protection, overhead lines, loading tiles, sarking and battens, cutting at a ground station, laying, ridge and hip bedding and pointing, to weather and pack-up. Stripping and replacing old roof coverings and metal roof sheeting have their own SWMS.

Roof tiling is high risk construction work when a person could fall more than 2 metres (WHS Regulation s 291), which is the item ticked on the form, so a SWMS is required (s 299); the 3 metre figure in ss 306C and 306D applies only to housing construction work and changes which fall controls are needed, not whether a SWMS is required. You can also tick energised electrical installations if overhead lines are near the roof, powered mobile plant if a crane, forklift or delivery truck moves where the work is done, and the contaminated atmosphere item if cutting tiles or mixing mortar creates silica dust, as the Queensland silica code advises.

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 Roof Tiling SWMS?

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

• Falls from the roof edge, eaves, ridge and gable ends
• Falls through open frames and between battens
• Falls from ladders during roof access
• Roof frames overloaded by stacked tile packs
• Being struck by cranes, conveyors and falling loads
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Tiles, clips and tools sliding onto people below
• Silica dust from cutting tiles and mixing mortar
• Noise from saws and nail guns
• Alkaline burns from wet cement and pointing
• Wind, rain and slippery tile surfaces
• Heat illness and hot tile surfaces
• Cuts and strains from handling tiles

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:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) and site induction, including roof access and rescue rules
• Roof tilers trained and experienced in the tile system and fixing method used (concrete or terracotta), working to the tile manufacturer’s installation instructions
• Training in the fall protection used (edge protection, fall arresting platform, travel restraint or fall arrest) and the rescue plan, for users and rescuers
• Competent person to install travel restraint, inspect restraint and fall arrest systems at least every 6 months, and approve anchor points (or an engineer to design them)
• Roof framer, truss supplier or engineer to confirm the roof frame is complete, braced and able to carry workers and stacked tiles
• High risk work licence for the scaffolding class that matches any scaffold used for access or edge protection (basic, intermediate or advanced) for anyone erecting, altering or dismantling a scaffold from which a person or object could fall more than 4 m (erected under a separate scaffolding SWMS)
• High risk work licence for the class of any vehicle loading crane (10 metre tonnes or more), crane or forklift truck used, and the dogging class or a higher rigging class for anyone who slings a load or directs a plant operator in the movement of a load when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work; the vehicle loading crane class also covers slinging)
• Operators trained on any tile elevator or conveyor, in line with the manufacturer’s instructions
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) where the dust assessment finds tile cutting high risk (WHS Regulation s 529CD)
• 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)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 (where scaffold is used for access or edge protection)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (vehicle loading crane lifts of tile packs)
• 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
• 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 (tile cutting and mortar)
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (existing buildings)
• 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): overhead line exclusion zones in schedule 2, and construction site electrical equipment (s 140)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• AS/NZS 4994.2 Temporary edge protection – Roof edge protection – Installation and dismantling (cited in the Falls Code)
• WorkSafe Queensland guidance: Managing the risk of falls while working on roofs in housing construction (guidance, not a code)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (19 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.