Working at Heights SWMS

For builders, trades and contractors whose crews work at height on roofs, edges, scaffolds, ladders and elevating work platforms. It runs from planning the fall protection through access, harness use and rescue to pack-up, using the Queensland construction fall rules in the WHS Regulation.

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

What is covered in our working at heights SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the work and choose the fall protection” to “Pack up and remove fall protection”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from roofs, edges and openings
• Falling through fragile roofing and skylights
• Falls from ladders that slip or tip
• Falls from incomplete or overloaded scaffold
• Tip-over of elevating work platforms
• Anchor points and edge protection failing under load
• Harness systems used wrongly or with too little fall distance
• Suspension trauma while waiting for rescue
• Tools and materials dropped onto people below
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Wind, rain and lightning making surfaces unsafe
• Heat illness while working at height

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:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m

Licences, training and competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction
• Working at heights training covering the equipment and methods used (harness, lanyard, anchor points, ladders)
• High risk work licence for the scaffolding class that matches the scaffold (basic, intermediate or advanced) for anyone erecting, altering or dismantling a scaffold from which a person or object could fall more than 4 m
• High risk work licence for the boom-type elevating work platform class where the boom length is 11 m or more (trainees under supervision)
• Training on the make and type of any elevating work platform, ladder or fall protection system used
• Training in the site rescue procedure for workers who use fall arrest or help with a rescue
• Engineer to design, or competent person to approve, each fall arrest anchor point before first use
• Competent person to install travel restraint systems and inspect fall protection systems every 6 months

Legislation and codes of practice referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 (roof sheeting)
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead power line exclusion zones
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Elevating work platforms (guidance)

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 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
• 8 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: hard hat; full-body harness with a lanyard and energy absorber, or a travel restraint lead, as the fall controls in this SWMS direct; non-slip safety boots; safety glasses
• Emergency arrangements for: fall arrested and worker suspended, dropped object or fall to a lower level and contact with a power line
• 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.