Sprayed Bitumen Sealing SWMS

For road crews, sealing contractors and councils spraying hot bitumen seals from sprayer trucks. It follows the work in order, from planning and surface preparation to refilling, spraying, protecting the seal and reopening the road. Spreading aggregate chip, asphalt and general road construction are separate work.

The reg 291 items for a road in use (13) and powered mobile plant (14) are ticked. Tick other items that apply. Add any other high risk construction work item that applies, such as work near energised overhead lines (item 10).

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 Sprayed Bitumen Sealing SWMS?

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

• Hot bitumen burns from splashes and spray
• Fire from burners and flammable cutter oil
• Bitumen fume and diesel exhaust
• Worker struck by traffic beside the work zone
• Sprayer truck reversing and turning
• Binder drift onto people and property
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Water reacting with hot bitumen
• Heat stress and fatigue
• Traffic driving on uncured binder

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 on, in or adjacent to a road, railway, shipping lane or other traffic corridor that is in use by traffic other than pedestrians
• 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 construction work, and site induction
• Training in working near traffic for everyone on or beside a road (the Working in Proximity to Traffic course is the one the Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 names)
• Accredited traffic controllers for anyone who stops or directs traffic; set-up of the traffic control layout has its own SWMS
• Sprayer operator trained and assessed on the sprayer model, spray bar, burners and pump (no high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation covers a bitumen sprayer truck)
• Driver licence of the right class for each truck driven on a public road
• Crew trained in the binder SDS, burn first aid and fire response, and an adequate number of workers trained in first aid (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Spotters briefed on signals, blind spots, exclusion zones and power line distances

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controllers, sections 51 to 55
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and sch 2 (overhead exclusion zones); ss 14 and 15 (underground lines)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)

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.