Vibratory Roller SWMS

Suits civil, road, subdivision and earthworks contractors who compact soil, fill, road base and asphalt with ride-on or pedestrian-controlled vibratory rollers. It covers ground and services checks, loading from the float, travel and blind spots, separating people and traffic from the roller, compaction near excavations and structures, hot asphalt, and dust, noise and whole-body vibration. Plate compactors, excavators and other plant each need their own SWMS.

Using a vibratory roller on construction work is high risk construction work because powered mobile plant moves in the work area (WHS Regulation ss 289 and 291(o)), so that item is ticked and a SWMS is required before it starts (s 299); away from construction work this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. You can also tick a road in use if the roller works on or beside a road, a trench deeper than 1.5 metres if compaction is in or near one, energised electrical installations near power lines or services, and the contaminated atmosphere item if rolling creates silica dust, as the Queensland silica code advises.

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 Vibratory Roller SWMS?

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

• Roller rollover on slopes, soft ground and edges
• Workers struck in blind spots
• Collisions with trucks, pavers and other plant
• Passing traffic on or beside a road
• Vibration damaging services, walls and trench sides
• Striking shallow underground services
• Contact with overhead power lines during float loading
• Machine rolling off ramps when loading onto a float
• Crush injuries at the articulation joint
• Burns and fume from hot asphalt
• Noise and whole-body vibration
• Dust, including crystalline silica
• Heat illness and fatigue

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

• Roller operator trained and assessed as competent on the roller type (smooth drum, padfoot, combination, pneumatic or pedestrian-controlled), its vibration controls and attachments; Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for rollers
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction, including the traffic and plant movement plan, exclusion zones and hand signals or radio
• Spotters and ground crew (surveyors, testers, labourers) trained in the roller’s blind spots, the exclusion zone and the signalling system
• Accredited traffic controllers for anyone who stops or directs traffic (covered by a separate SWMS)
• Working in Proximity to Traffic training (Department of Transport and Main Roads online course, Parts 1 and 2) for workers on or next to a road, as the Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 recommends
• Competent person to assess slopes, soft ground, edges, drains and culverts, and where vibration is not allowed
• Trained operator for the cable and pipe locator used to check shallow services
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) where the dust assessment finds the work high risk
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Float driver with the licence class for the float and roller combination (a separate SWMS covers driving)

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 214 and 215 (powered mobile plant), ss 206, 207 and 213 (use and maintenance of plant), ss 56 to 58 (noise), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks), ss 529A to 529CD (crystalline silica) and ss 316 and 317 (construction induction)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (ss 3.8 and 4.4: powered mobile plant and warning devices)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021 (ss 3.5, 4.1, 4.3 and 6.1: adjacent structures, zone of influence, earthmoving machinery and vibration near excavations)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021 (whole-body vibration, ss 2.2 and 4.6)
• 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 the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (Appendix E: burn module)
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controller accreditation
• Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices Part 3 (MUTCD Part 3), as the traffic code names it
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones in schedule 2 and underground electric lines
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• AS 2294.1 Earth-moving machinery – Protective structures – General (named in the Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021)
• WorkSafe Queensland guidance: Onsite traffic management self-assessment tool (guidance, not a code)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (19 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.