Stormwater Pit and Gross Pollutant Trap Cleaning SWMS

Suits civil maintenance, council and environmental services crews who clean stormwater pits and gross pollutant traps with vacuum trucks. It covers planning to avoid entry, traffic control, lid and basket lifting, gas testing, vacuuming, handling contaminated waste and wash-down. Entry to a pit or trap follows the permit steps in the Confined Spaces SWMS.

Cleaning pits and traps from the surface is not high risk construction work by itself, so no high risk construction work item is pre-ticked. A SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). Where the job is construction work, tick the items that apply: work in or near a confined space if anyone must enter a pit or trap, a road in use, the movement of powered mobile plant, or a contaminated or flammable atmosphere.

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 Stormwater Pit and Gross Pollutant Trap Cleaning SWMS?

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

• Confined space entry and sewer-type gas
• Low oxygen and flammable vapours
• Engulfment in sludge and water
• Sewage and contaminated water infection
• Needle-stick injuries and sharp debris
• Traffic striking workers or the truck
• Heavy pit lids and trap covers
• Dropped baskets and truck crane overload
• Suction hose and boom strikes
• Hydraulic hose failure
• Noise from the pump and engine
• Manual handling of wet debris

High Risk Construction Work

No high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this work is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick the items that apply to your job, such as a fall risk of more than 2 metres or work where powered mobile plant is moving.

Licences, Training and Competency

• Vacuum truck operator trained and assessed as competent on the truck, boom, hose and pump, and holding the driver licence class for the truck (no high risk work licence class applies to a vacuum truck)
• Confined space awareness training for every worker, so they recognise a pit or gross pollutant trap as a possible confined space and know no one enters without a permit (WHS Regulation s 76)
• Confined space entry training for any entrant, standby person, supervisor and rescuer, with records kept for 2 years, where entry cannot be avoided
• Gas detector user trained and competent in bump testing, calibration checks and reading the instrument
• Competent person to carry out the written risk assessment, complete the entry permit and test the atmosphere where entry is needed
• Traffic control: accredited traffic controllers where traffic must be directed, and a traffic management plan prepared by a suitably trained person
• High risk work licence for the vehicle loading crane class (Schedule 3) to operate a truck-mounted crane with a capacity of 10 metre tonnes or more
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3), for anyone who slings a load or directs the operator when the load is out of view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• First aider on site, briefed on infection risks, needle-stick injuries and gas exposure
• General construction induction training card (white card) when the work is construction work
• Site induction

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (guidance)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): exclusion zones for overhead lines (schedule 2)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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.