Vacuum Lifter Slab Laying SWMS

For paving, landscaping and civil crews who lay large slabs and kerbs with hand, trolley or machine-mounted vacuum lifters. It covers lift planning, exclusion zones, pre-use checks, suction loss and failure response, placing and aligning, cutting, weather and pack-up. It leaves general paving to a separate SWMS.

Powered mobile plant (item 14 in the high risk construction work list, s 291(o)) is pre-ticked because the carrier machine moves in the work area, so a SWMS is required by law (s 299). Also tick the road item if the work is on or beside a road in use, the trench item for any excavation deeper than 1.5 m, and the energised electrical services item if work is on or near live services or underground cables.

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 Vacuum Lifter Slab Laying SWMS?

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

• Slab dropping when suction is lost
• Crush injuries from slabs and kerbs
• Carrier tipping on soft ground or overloaded
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Striking underground services
• Workers entering the lifting zone
• Quick hitch and attachment failure
• Strains from manual handling
• Silica dust from cutting
• Traffic beside the work area
• Wind, rain and heat
• Noise from saws and plant

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 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
• Operator of the vacuum lifter and carrier trained and assessed as competent on the machine and lifter used, and on their pre-use checks and limits (no high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 applies to operating an excavator or a vacuum lifter)
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3), for anyone who slings a load or directs a plant operator in the movement of a load when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Licensed operator for any forklift or crane used to unload (separate SWMS)
• Spotter or safety observer briefed on hand signals and the exclusion zone
• Training in the hazards of crystalline silica dust and in the control measures and respiratory protective equipment used
• Trained traffic controllers where traffic control is needed
• Site induction

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• 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 Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021 (underground services and plant and people rules)
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (earthmoving plant used as a crane)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 15 and schedule 2 (overhead and underground lines) and s 139 (safety switches)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 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.