Test and Tag Services SWMS

Suits test and tag businesses and electrical contractors who inspect, test and tag plug-in equipment, leads, powerboards and safety switches at offices, workshops, kitchens, schools and construction sites. It follows the job from agreeing the scope and shutdowns with the client through setting up, inspecting, testing, tagging and records to handover. Fixed wiring, repairs, opening switchboards and enclosures, and live fault finding are outside it and need a licensed electrical worker and their own SWMS.

Test and tag is not high risk construction work by itself, so no item is ticked and WHS Regulation s 299 does not require a SWMS for it; a SWMS is required when the testing is part of high risk construction work, such as work on or near energised electrical installations (s 291), which you can tick on the form, and electrical work on or near energised equipment has its own rules, including a recorded risk assessment and an electrical SWMS, under the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026; otherwise this document 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 Test and Tag Services SWMS?

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

• Electric shock from faulty equipment and testers
• Switching off equipment that people depend on
• Unplanned power loss when testing safety switches
• Faulty socket-outlets and switchboards
• Damaged plugs, leads and exposed conductors
• Equipment starting or running during a test
• Failed items put back into use
• Repairing or opening equipment without a licence
• Wrong tags and missing test records
• Wet kitchens, workshops and construction sites
• Children, patients and the public near test gear
• Strains from carrying kit and falls reaching equipment
• Working alone in empty buildings

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

• Competent person for the testing task: someone with the knowledge and skill, through training, qualifications or experience, to inspect and test portable electrical equipment and safety switches (RCDs) safely, use the test equipment, read the results and apply AS/NZS 3760 (and AS/NZS 3012 on construction sites)
• Testing electrical equipment is electrical work (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 18), but no electrical work licence is needed for testing that Part 6 of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 requires when a competent person does it (s 181); a licensed electrical worker (electrical work licence that authorises the work) does any repair, dismantling, rewiring, fixed wiring or switchboard work
• Electrical contractor licence for the business that tests and tags for others, and it must permit testing and tagging work (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 56): a restricted electrical contractor licence endorsed for testing and tagging is the licence for a test and tag only business, and it does not allow electrical repairs; the Part 6 testing exemption (s 55(3)(d)) removes the electrical work licence requirement for the individual tester only, who must be appointed as competent by the employer (Electrical Safety Office, ‘Testing and tagging update’)
• Rescue and resuscitation (CPR) competence in line with recognised electricity industry practice for every tester: Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 211 covers workers required to perform electrical work, and testing is electrical work under s 18 of the Act
• Training in the portable appliance tester and the RCD tester used, including their self-checks, leads and limits
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and the client’s site induction at every site
• Any training or checks the client requires for its site, such as infection control in schools, health and aged care
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42), with a first aid kit in the vehicle

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): s 48 (remote or isolated work), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks), ss 316 and 317 (construction induction) and ss 291(k) and 299 (energised work and SWMS)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): ss 11 and 12 (serious electrical incidents and dangerous electrical events), s 18 (meaning of electrical work), s 30 (electrical safety duty) and ss 55 and 56 (licences)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): Part 6, ss 123 to 142 (workplace electrical equipment: competent person, inspection and testing, tags, safety switches, construction work and hire)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 17 and 18 (unsafe equipment, cord extension sets and flexible cables) and s 181 (testing without an electrical work licence)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 193 to 204 (electrical work on or near energised electrical equipment), s 211 (rescue and resuscitation) and s 292 (serious electrical incidents and dangerous electrical events)
• AS/NZS 3760 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment and RCDs (named in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026)
• AS/NZS 3012 Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites (named in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace (ss 3.1 to 3.3, 7.4 and 7.5)
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (20 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.