Site Surveying and Set-Out SWMS

Suits surveyors, set-out crews, civil and building contractors and engineers who take levels, mark out and set out on construction and civil sites. It covers working near plant and traffic, overhead lines and underground services, excavations and edges, uneven ground, sun and wildlife, instruments, pegging and working alone. Traffic management set-up needs its own SWMS.

A SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 when the survey or set-out is high risk construction work, so the item for work in an area where powered mobile plant moves (s 291) is ticked, and you can also tick the road in use, trench deeper than 1.5 metres and energised installations items on the form as the job needs; a survey for design or mapping where nothing is being built works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment.

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 Site Surveying and Set-Out SWMS?

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

• Surveyors struck by moving plant and trucks
• Traffic striking surveyors on or beside a road
• Survey staffs and poles near overhead power lines
• Pegs and pins striking underground services
• Falls into trenches and over excavation edges
• Trench and edge collapse
• Entering manholes and other confined spaces
• Slips and falls on uneven or soft ground
• Heat, sun and dehydration
• Snakes, spiders, ticks and stinging insects
• Laser beams and tipping instruments
• Hammering strains and aerosol marking paint
• Working alone in remote areas

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

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for anyone who surveys or sets out on a construction site, because site preparation and work connected with an excavation are construction work
• Site induction, including the plant movement or traffic management plan, exclusion zones and emergency procedures
• Training in working near moving plant: blind spots, hand signals or radio, two-way acknowledgement and the exclusion zone for each machine
• 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
• Accredited traffic controllers for anyone who stops or directs traffic (covered by a separate SWMS)
• Crew trained in the instruments used (total station, GNSS, levels and lasers); a worker who operates a laser is trained in its use
• Trained operator for the cable and pipe locator where one is used
• Competent person to assess edges, excavations, soft ground and safe distances
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42), including snake bite and heat illness first aid
• Workers who work alone are trained in the check-in system, the emergency procedure and the satellite phone or beacon
• Current driver licence for the vehicle driven to and on site (a separate SWMS covers driving)

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 214 and 215 (powered mobile plant), ss 304 to 306 (excavation work), s 78 (falls), s 48 (remote or isolated work), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks) and ss 316 and 317 (construction induction)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021 (ss 3.5 and 4.1 to 4.3: adjacent structures, zone of influence, lasers, powered mobile plant and blind spots)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (outdoor work, s 4.1, and remote or isolated work, s 4.2)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (Appendix E: outdoor and remote modules)
• Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination Code of Practice 2021
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controller accreditation
• 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
• AS 2397 Safe use of lasers in the building and construction industry (named in the Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021)
• Radiation Safety Act 1999 (Qld) and Radiation Safety Regulation 2021 (Qld): ss 6 and 97 of the Regulation (lasers above the class 1 emission limit; labelling and information requirements for the laser exemption)
• WorkSafe Queensland guidance: Onsite traffic management self-assessment tool (guidance, not a code)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (18 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.