Sheep Handling and Drafting SWMS

Suits graziers, station hands, stock contractors and farm crews who muster, draft, treat and handle sheep in yards and shearing sheds. It follows the job in order: planning and briefing, yard and gear checks, mustering into the yards, race and drafting work, catching and restraining, treating and marking, shed work, manual handling, hygiene and zoonoses, heat and wildlife, and clean-up. Loading sheep onto trucks needs its own SWMS.

Sheep handling is not high risk construction work, 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 work is part of construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply. Otherwise the document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment that you tailor to your yards, shed and flock.

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

What Is Covered In Our Sheep Handling and Drafting SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the work, brief the crew and set up emergency arrangements” to “Release the sheep, clean up and finish”. The hazards and controls include:

• Kicks, butts and charges from sheep and rams
• Crush injuries against rails and gates
• Fingers caught in gates, latches and drafting levers
• Slips and falls on greasy shed boards and ramps
• Strains from catching, turning and lifting sheep
• Needle-stick and veterinary chemical splashes
• Cuts from shears, trimmers and knives
• Zoonoses such as Q fever and leptospirosis
• Noise, dust and leads in the shed
• Heat, sun and long days
• Snake and spider bites
• Children and visitors near the yards

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

• Stock handling experience or supervised training in low-stress sheep handling, recorded by the PCBU
• Training in the operation and emergency release of any sheep handler, cradle, drafting race or powered gate in use
• Training in the safe use of needles, syringes, drench guns, crutching shears and the veterinary chemicals used (labels and SDS read)
• Information for workers on zoonoses and hygiene, and on Q fever vaccination as good practice (not a legal requirement), with workers encouraged to ask their doctor
• First aid arrangements for the yards and shed as WHS Regulation s 42 requires, and a way to call for help on remote properties (s 48)
• Yard and shed induction covering escape routes, people-only gates, no-go areas and rules for children and visitors
• No high risk work licence class applies to handling sheep

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 203, 206, 208 and 213: managing plant risks, proper use of plant and controls, guarding, and maintenance and inspection (sheep handlers, cradles, crates and powered gates)
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 60 and 351: hazardous manual tasks and hazardous chemical risks
• WHS Act 2011 (Qld) ss 36 and 38 and WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 699: notifying a serious illness, such as Q fever or leptospirosis, contracted through contact with animals, wool or animal waste
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 42, 43 and 48: first aid, emergency plan and remote or isolated work
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 40, 41, 56 and 57: general workplace facilities (floors, lighting, ventilation, extremes of heat), drinking water and washing facilities, the noise exposure standard and managing hearing loss
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 328(6)(d): the hazardous chemicals part does not apply to veterinary chemical products at the point of intentional administration to animals (other chemicals, and storage and spills, are still managed under s 351)
• Chemical Usage (Agricultural and Veterinary) Control Act 1988 (Qld) ss 12(4), 12(5) and 12D: a person who is not a veterinary surgeon must use a registered veterinary chemical product only in a way stated on the approved label, unless a permit or regulation authorises another use, or the person uses it as the written instructions of the veterinary surgeon who prescribed, supplied or recommended it state
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Children and Young Workers Code of Practice 2006
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Electrical equipment rural industry
• 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 (14 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 11 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: steel-capped safety boots with a non-slip sole; long-sleeved shirt and long trousers, with a broad-brimmed hat and sunscreen
• Emergency arrangements for: person trapped or crushed against rails or in a gate, needle-stick or chemical splash and snake 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.