Traffic Management SWMS

Suits traffic management companies, civil and roadworks contractors, utility crews and builders who set up and run traffic guidance schemes on or next to roads in use. It covers planning, signs and devices, barriers and buffer zones, traffic controllers, night and low-light work, heat and fatigue, and removal of devices.

New to SWMS? Read What is a safe work method statement?

What is covered in our traffic management SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the work and confirm the traffic management plan” to “Remove devices and pack up”. The hazards and controls include:

• Workers struck by passing vehicles
• Vehicles entering the work zone
• Traffic controller struck while directing traffic
• Placing and collecting signs, cones and barriers on foot
• Poor sight distance and night or low-light work
• Work vehicles slowing, turning and reversing at the site
• Manual handling of heavy barriers, bases and water-filled units
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Poorly placed or filled barriers
• Pedestrians and cyclists diverted into traffic
• Heat, sun exposure and fatigue
• Abuse and aggression from road users
• Signs left in place after work finishes

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 on or beside a road
• Queensland Traffic Controller Accreditation (current identity card) for every person who directs traffic; a trainee may direct traffic only to complete the approved course and under the supervision of an accredited traffic controller
• Working in Proximity to Traffic training (Department of Transport and Main Roads online course, Parts 1 and 2) for all workers on or next to a road, as the Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 recommends
• Traffic Management Implement training from an approved provider for anyone who implements the traffic management plan (recommended by the code of practice)
• Traffic Management Design training from an approved provider for anyone who designs the traffic management plan or traffic guidance scheme (recommended by the code of practice)
• Current driver licence for the class of vehicle driven
• Site induction

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
• Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Part 3, issued under the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controller accreditation
• Traffic Controller Accreditation Scheme Approved Procedure (TCASAP)
• Managing Risks of Plant 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
• Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages. Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 11 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; high-visibility long-sleeved shirt and trousers or vest of the class the traffic management plan requires (day, night or day/night); retroreflective vest or gaiters for night work
• Emergency arrangements for: vehicle enters the work zone, worker struck by a vehicle and heat illness
• 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.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed November 2026.