Seawall and Rock Revetment Construction SWMS

For civil, marine and landscape contractors who build rock seawalls and revetments on foreshores, creeks and canals. It follows the job from the tide plan and approvals through plant access, excavation, rock delivery and placement to the end-of-tide make-safe.

Powered mobile plant and work near water with a drowning risk mean items 14 and 16 are ticked. Tick other items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 metres (item 0), a trench deeper than 1.5 metres (item 6), overhead lines (item 10) or a road in use (item 13). Jetties and piers, gabion and retaining walls have their own SWMS; boat ramps, piling, diving and work from a barge or boat are separate work, and wall design stays with the designer.

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 Seawall and Rock Revetment 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:

• Drowning at the water’s edge
• Rising tides cutting off workers or plant
• Excavator tipping on soft or sloping ground
• Rock falling from grabs and slings
• Slippery and shifting rock underfoot
• Crushed hands and feet placing rock
• Excavation and slope collapse
• Trucks tipping near edges
• Struck underground services and power lines
• Heat, sun and marine infection
• Noise and manual handling
• Public access to the work area

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 in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant
• Is carried out in or near water or other liquid that involves a risk of drowning

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Excavator and truck operators trained and assessed as competent for the model and attachments (no high risk work licence applies to an excavator in general)
• Person holding the dogging licence class where loads are slung or a crane operator is directed (WHS Regulation Schedules 3 and 19)
• Competent designer or coastal engineer for the wall design and rock grading (outside this SWMS)
• Competent person to check the slope, the toe and the placed rock, and to confirm ground bearing for plant
• Lookout and rescue crew trained in water rescue and the use of flotation devices and rescue equipment
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Marine vessel crew licences are outside this SWMS; use a separate SWMS for any work from a barge or boat

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 Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (where a crane lifts rock)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead exclusion zones (ss 10 to 13, Sch 2) and underground lines (ss 14 and 15)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 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.