Water Blaster SWMS

For cleaners, painters, concreters, landscapers and maintenance crews who use petrol, diesel or electric water blasters to clean surfaces. It covers checking the surface and the machine, setting up the exclusion zone and drainage, connecting water and power, refuelling, operating the jet, working near electrical equipment and heights, cleaning up and shutting down. High pressure water must never be used on asbestos.

A SWMS is legally required under the WHS Regulation (s 299) only when the blasting is part of high risk construction work, such as a fall risk over 2 metres, work near energised installations or asbestos disturbance; otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment.

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

What is covered in our water blaster SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Check the surface and plan the job” to “Shut down, depressurise and pack up”. The hazards and controls include:

• High pressure jet injection and cut injuries
• Hose or coupling failure and hose whip
• Asbestos in old fibro and cement sheet
• Lead in old paint
• Electric shock from leads, outlets and overhead lines
• Falls from ladders caused by jet recoil
• Fuel fire and engine exhaust in poor ventilation
• Noise from the engine and jet
• Slips on wet and slimy surfaces
• Contaminated wash water and slurry
• Silica dust from dried concrete residue
• Stored pressure released when disconnecting hoses

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

• Operator trained and verified as competent on the water blaster model in use, including the trigger gun, lance and hose handling
• Training in the SDS and safe use of any cleaning chemicals added to the water
• General construction induction training card (white card) when working on a construction site
• Site induction
• Competent person to inspect and test electric units, leads and safety switches
• First aider on site, briefed that any jet puncture or cut is an emergency

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 36, 44 (control measures, PPE), ss 56 to 58 (noise)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 60 (hazardous manual tasks), ss 205 to 213 (plant)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 344, 351 (SDS, hazardous chemical risks)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 392, 396, 397, 402 (lead process, contamination, cleaning)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 446 (no high pressure water on asbestos)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 49 and 529A to 529D (silica dust)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks 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
• Abrasive Blasting Code of Practice 2021 (for the water jetting, lead and asbestos points)
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces 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
• Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and Schedule 2 (power lines), ss 17, 18 and 140
• AS/NZS 4233.1 (High pressure water jetting systems, Part 1: Safe operation and maintenance), as pointed to in the Abrasive Blasting Code of Practice 2021

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 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
• 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: non-slip safety boots, waterproof, with a toe cap; face shield worn over safety glasses; waterproof jacket and trousers; waterproof gloves
• Emergency arrangements for: injection injury, electric shock and fuel fire or spill
• 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 October 2026.