Scaffold Gantry and Covered Way SWMS

For scaffolding contractors and builders who erect scaffold-built gantries and covered ways (tube and coupler or modular) over footpaths to protect the public. It follows the job from the engineer’s design, foundations and footpath approvals through heavy lifts, bases, the overhead platform, sheeting, lighting and the pedestrian route, to certification, 30-day inspections and dismantling. It does not cover standard scaffolds (the Scaffolding SWMS and the Fixed Scaffold SWMS cover those) or catch platforms and perimeter screens on a building face (the Catch Platform and Gantry Installation SWMS covers those).

Falls of more than 2 metres mean item 0 is ticked. Tick other items that apply, such as work beside a road in use by traffic other than pedestrians (item 13, WHS Regulation s 291(n)), moving powered mobile plant such as a crane or forklift (item 14) or work near energised overhead lines (item 10). Crane operation, dogging and traffic control have their own SWMS; the gantry design stays with the engineer.

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

What Is Covered In Our Scaffold Gantry and Covered Way SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job: engineer’s design, foundations and public interface” to “Dismantle the gantry or covered way”. The hazards and controls include:

• Gantry built to the wrong load
• Footpath, pit or service failing under the posts
• Heavy beams, decking and sheeting handled by hand
• Crane lifts over the footpath and the public
• Crane contact with overhead power lines
• Falls while erecting and dismantling
• Components dropped onto pedestrians
• Overhead platform lifting in wind
• Sheeting sailing in wind
• Vehicle strike on the structure
• Pedestrians entering the work area
• Overloading with stored material

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) for construction work, and the site induction
• High risk work licence for the scaffolding class that matches the structure, for anyone erecting, altering or dismantling it where a person or object could fall more than 4 m: basic for modular or prefabricated scaffolds (Schedule 3 item 1), intermediate for tube and coupler covered ways and gantries and for cantilevered crane loading platforms (item 2), advanced for hung or suspended scaffolds and cantilevered hoists (item 3)
• Below a 4 m fall potential no scaffolding licence is needed, but everyone erecting or dismantling is trained, supervised and competent (Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021, section 1.5.2)
• Trainees work under the supervision of a licence holder while training (WHS Regulation s 82(1))
• Engineer to design the gantry or covered way for its overhead platform load (WHS Regulation s 315K) and to verify the design before it is built (Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021, section 2.2, Table 1)
• Competent person (or the scaffolder the design names) to inspect the structure and confirm in writing that construction is complete
• High risk work licence for the class of crane used (Schedule 3 items 8 to 18) and for any forklift truck (item 24); dogging licence (item 4) or a higher rigging class for anyone slinging a load or directing a crane operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Trained traffic controllers where a road or footpath is closed or controlled, working to the traffic management plan
• Training in fall arrest harness use and the rescue plan for everyone who works at height
• First aid arrangements for the site (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 54 and 55, and ss 315B to 315M: falling objects, including s 315K (gantries), s 315L (load lifted over an adjoining area) and s 315M (closing an adjoining area)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 225, Schedule 3 items 1 to 5, Schedule 5 Part 1 item 1.10 and Schedule 19: scaffolds, licences, prefabricated scaffolding design registration, and the meaning of scaffolding work and dogging work
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 78 to 80, 306D, 306E, 306I, 306P and 306Q: falls, fall arrest harness systems and erecting and dismantling scaffolding
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 219: plant that lifts or suspends loads
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 422, 425 and 445: asbestos identification, register and training
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (where a mobile crane lifts components)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (work on or beside a road or footpath)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones, ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)

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
• 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 non-slip soles; hard hat with a chin strap; high-visibility clothing that suits the road and the time of day; work gloves for handling steel, tube, sheeting and mesh
• Emergency arrangements for: fall from the structure, component, tool or load falls onto a person or the public and structure damaged by a vehicle, wind or overload
• 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.