Temporary Edge Protection Installation and Removal SWMS

For builders, formworkers, concreters and edge protection installers who fit and remove temporary guardrail systems on suspended slabs, stairwells and floor openings. It follows the work in order, from planning the system and checking power lines through handling components, installing at slab edges and stair voids, fixing anchors, inspection and handover to opening gates and removing the system. Scaffolds and roof edge protection need separate SWMS.

Work with a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres (WHS Regulation s 291(a)) is ticked for you, because edge protection is fitted at slab edges, stair voids and openings where a person could fall that far, so a SWMS is required before the work starts (s 299). Tick the other items that apply on the form: the energised services item (WHS Regulation s 291(k)) if an overhead line or service is close to the building edge, the powered mobile plant item (s 291(o)) when a crane, forklift or truck moves in the work area, and the contaminated atmosphere item (s 291(l)) only if drilling or cutting concrete creates silica dust, as the approved silica code advises.

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

What Is Covered In Our Temporary Edge Protection Installation and Removal SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the system and the installation method” to “Remove the system”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from the slab edge while fitting
• Falls into stair voids and openings
• Posts and rails dropping or swinging
• Barrier systems failing under impact
• Covers moving or collapsing
• Tools and components falling on people below
• Gaps left when sections are removed
• Strains handling posts, rails and mesh
• Silica dust from drilling anchor holes
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Suspended worker rescue

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:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Installers trained by the system supplier or a competent person in fitting, inspecting and removing the system used
• Competent person to inspect and tag the system and approve anchorage points
• Training in the travel restraint or fall arrest equipment used, and in the rescue plan; no high risk work licence class covers working at heights
• Engineer for the design or fixing advice where the supplier gives no instructions or the slab is unusual
• Licensed scaffolder (class matching the system) for any scaffold-based system from which a person or object could fall more than 4 m; this SWMS does not cover scaffold erection
• Boom-type EWP high risk work licence for a boom length of 11 m or more where an EWP is used; dogger or crane licence for crane-lifted bundles under their own SWMS
• CPR and first aid training for the crew

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 78 to 80 and 306C to 306J (falls, edge protection, covers, travel restraint, fall arrest), ss 315B to 315M (falling objects), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Formwork Code of Practice 2016 (edge protection, penetration covers and access on slabs)
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 (where the system is scaffold-based)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2 (exclusion zones for overhead electric lines)
• AS/NZS 4994 set, Temporary edge protection (named in the Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Elevating work platforms (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 10 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: safety boots with a non-slip sole; hard hat with chin strap; high-visibility clothing; safety glasses
• Emergency arrangements for: fall or person suspended in a harness, person falls against the system and it moves or fails and contact with a power line
• 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 October 2026.