Wardrobe Installation SWMS

For carpenters, cabinet makers and installers fitting built-in wardrobes and sliding door systems in homes and units. It follows the job from the site check and carrying panels, through checking for hidden services and drilling, cutting, standing and fixing frames, hanging heavy sliding and mirror doors, fitting interiors, and cleaning up. Kitchen cabinets are covered by a separate SWMS.

Installing a wardrobe is construction work (fitting-out, WHS Regulation s 289) but it is not high risk construction work by itself. A SWMS is legally required under s 299 only when the job includes high risk construction work (s 291); for ordinary floor-level jobs this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment. No item is ticked by default: tick the ones that apply to your job, such as a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres, disturbing asbestos, work on or near energised services, or the contaminated atmosphere item if drilling concrete or brick makes silica dust, as the Queensland silica code advises (WHS Regulation s 291(l)).

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

What Is Covered In Our Wardrobe Installation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the install and check the site” to “Clean up, remove waste and hand over”. The hazards and controls include:

• Carrying long, heavy panels and frames
• Heavy mirror and glass sliding doors
• Doors jumping off tracks and crush injuries
• Frames and carcasses tipping while being stood
• Poor wall fixings and tip-over later
• Drilling into hidden cables and pipes
• Silica dust from drilling masonry
• Asbestos in older homes
• Saw and router injuries and kickback
• Board dust and noise
• Falls from step ladders
• Adhesives, sealants and fumes

High Risk Construction Work

None of the high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this job is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick any that apply on your site.

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card): fitting out a building is construction work (WHS Regulation ss 289, 316 and 317)
• Trade qualification or verified competency in the tools and methods used (saws, drills, routers, nail guns); apprentices and new workers work under an experienced installer
• Licensed electrical worker for any wiring, new power outlet or change to existing wiring (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• Someone able to assess the silica dust risk before any drilling or cutting with a power tool into masonry, brick, concrete, fibre cement or other material that may contain at least 1% crystalline silica, and to record the assessment in writing (WHS Regulation s 529CA)
• Respirator fit test and training for each wearer, with respirators chosen to AS/NZS 1716 and AS/NZS 1715 (named in s 529B)
• Crystalline silica training (a VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) for any worker who may be involved in, or exposed to, silica processing that the assessment finds high risk, with a record kept (WHS Regulation s 529CD)
• Asbestos awareness training for work in older homes; asbestos removal is not covered by this SWMS and is done as chapter 8 of the WHS Regulation requires: by a licensed asbestos removalist, except for 10 m2 or less of non-friable asbestos or minor contamination, which a competent person trained under s 445 may remove (s 458)
• Training in the label and SDS for each adhesive, sealant and solvent used
• No high risk work licence class applies to the work in this SWMS; a licence for any hoist or forklift truck used to move components applies if one is used
• First aid equipment and trained first aiders as the work and site need (WHS Regulation s 42)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 289, 291 and 299: construction work, high risk construction work and safe work method statements
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 306K to 306M: ladders used for construction work
• WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) ss 529A to 529J: crystalline silica and processing of crystalline silica substances
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022 (general guidance)
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021 (ladders)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos 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
• Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): electrical equipment for construction work (s 140)
• AS/NZS 3012 Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites (named in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026)
• AS/NZS 1716:2012 (Respiratory protective devices) and AS/NZS 1715:2009 (Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective equipment), as named in WHS Regulation s 529B

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 glasses; hearing protection for drilling, sawing and routing; P2 respirator for board dust; a fit-tested respirator that complies with AS/NZS 1716 where silica dust is not fully controlled
• Emergency arrangements for: struck a live wire or pipe when drilling, suspected asbestos disturbed and crushed or cut by a door, mirror, panel or saw
• 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 November 2026.