Wire Rope Safety Barrier Installation SWMS

Suits road and civil crews who install wire rope safety barrier systems on roads. It follows the work from services and set-out through post driving, terminals and threading and tensioning the cable to final checks. Guardrail and traffic control set-up need separate SWMS.

Work on, in or adjacent to a road in use by traffic, and work where powered mobile plant moves, are high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 291(n) and (o)), so those items are ticked. Also tick the shaft or trench item (s 291(g)(i)) if a footing excavation is deeper than 1.5 metres, and any other item the job involves, such as energised electrical services or the contaminated atmosphere item when drilling creates silica dust.

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 Wire Rope Safety Barrier Installation SWMS?

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

• Vehicles striking workers beside the road
• Cable or fitting failing under tension
• Cuts from frayed wire rope
• Post driver and drill hazards
• Striking underground services
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Reels, posts and anchors rolling or falling
• Noise and vibration from driving posts
• Silica dust from drilling and breaking
• Manual handling of posts and fittings
• Heat, fatigue and night work
• Terminals and anchors not built to the design

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
• Working in Proximity to Traffic training for all workers on or next to a road, as the Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 recommends
• Installer trained in the barrier system by the maker or supplier, including the tensioning procedure and the end terminals
• Post driver or drill operator trained and assessed as competent on the machine and carrier (no high risk work licence class applies to a post driver, drill rig or excavator carrying one)
• High risk work licence in the vehicle loading crane class (10 metre tonnes or more) for the operator of a loader crane, and in the dogging class or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3) for anyone who slings a load or directs a plant operator when the load is out of view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Queensland traffic controller accreditation applies to anyone who directs traffic; directing traffic and setting up the traffic guidance scheme are covered by a separate SWMS, not this one
• Operator of the cable and pipe locator trained in its use
• Current driver licence for the class of vehicle driven, and site induction

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)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 219 (plant that lifts or suspends loads)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 304 (underground essential services information for excavation work, which includes a drilled or augered post hole that is a shaft)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 315 (principal contractor: traffic in the vicinity of the workplace)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 56 and 57 (noise exposure standard and duty)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): chapter 8A (crystalline silica)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices Part 3 (MUTCD Part 3)
• AS/NZS 3845 Road safety barrier systems and devices (named in the Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (where a loader crane lifts reels or anchors)
• 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 respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (guidance only; not approved in Queensland)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones (ss 10 to 13, schedule 2) and underground electric lines (ss 14 and 15)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (14 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.