Wood Chipper SWMS

Suits tree services, landscapers, councils and property maintenance crews who run wood chippers on the ground. It follows the work from setting up the chipper and exclusion zone, through pre-start and emergency stop tests, feeding, clearing jams, discharge control, noise and blade maintenance, to pack-up. Tree felling, climbing and pruning need their own SWMS.

A SWMS is legally required only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299), and operating a wood chipper is not itself construction work; otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment. If the work does form part of construction work, tick any high risk construction work item that applies to it.

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 Wood Chipper SWMS?

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

• Entanglement in the feed rollers and blades
• Hands drawn into the hopper
• Material thrown from the discharge chute
• Whipping branches striking the operator
• Faulty or bypassed emergency stop
• Jams cleared while parts still move
• Blade changes and sharp parts
• Hearing loss from chipper noise
• Dust, mould and splinters
• Fire from fuel and hot engines
• Chipper moving on slopes
• Heat illness and fatigue

High Risk Construction Work

No high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this work is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick the items that apply to your job, such as a fall risk of more than 2 metres or work where powered mobile plant is moving.

Licences, Training and Competency

• No high risk work licence is required to operate a wood chipper; Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no wood chipper class
• Operator trained and instructed in the specific chipper model: feed controls, reverse and stop controls, emergency stops, blade changes and the manufacturer’s safe-use rules, with supervised practice before working unsupervised
• Competent person for blade changes, maintenance and inspection
• Training in this SWMS and the emergency stop and hand-signal arrangements
• Site induction and the client’s or principal contractor’s access rules
• General construction induction training card (white card) only if the work is part of construction work on a construction site

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
• 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
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (outdoor work, heat and UV)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (chipping beside roads)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead electric line exclusion zones in schedule 2

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.