How to write a SWMS: 7 steps for Australian trades

A good SWMS is short, specific to the site and actually used. Here is how to write one in seven steps, in the order you'd do it on a real job.

1. Check the job is high risk construction work

A SWMS is legally required only for high risk construction work (HRCW). The model WHS Regulations list 18 categories (Victoria lists 19), including work with a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres, work on or near energised electrical installations, trenches deeper than 1.5 metres, demolition of load-bearing elements, asbestos disturbance, and work where powered mobile plant is moving.

If the job hits even one category, you need a SWMS before that work starts. If it doesn't, a JSA or your normal risk assessment may be enough. See SWMS vs JSA and the full HRCW list.

2. Visit or review the site

Regulation 299 requires you to take into account the circumstances at the workplace. Before you write anything, note:

• Access and egress, edges, roof pitch and condition, fragile surfaces
• Overhead and underground services
• Other trades, public, traffic and mobile plant nearby
• Ground conditions, weather exposure, and anything unusual about this site

3. Break the work into steps

List the job in the order it happens, usually 5 to 12 steps. For example: set up and exclusion zone, access, remove old material, install new, clean up, pack down. Steps that are too broad ("do roof") hide the hazards.

4. Identify the hazards and risks in each step

For each step ask: what could hurt someone here, who, and how badly? Think falls, falling objects, electricity, manual handling, plant, dust and fumes, noise, heat, and the public.

5. Choose controls using the hierarchy of control

Work down the hierarchy:

1. Eliminate the hazard (do the work from the ground, isolate the circuit)
2. Substitute (a mobile scaffold instead of a ladder)
3. Isolate (barriers, exclusion zones)
4. Engineering controls (edge protection, guarding, dust extraction)
5. Administrative controls (procedures, permits, training, signage)
6. PPE (harness, eye protection, respirators)

Most good SWMS combine several. If you rely mainly on administrative controls or PPE, record why higher-order controls are not reasonably practicable. Many businesses also rate each risk before and after controls on a likelihood x consequence matrix. That isn't mandatory, but it shows your thinking.

6. Say who does what, and how you'll check it

The regulations require the SWMS to describe how controls will be implemented, monitored and reviewed. Name the person responsible on site, list required licences and permits, and add emergency and rescue arrangements. See what a SWMS must include for the full checklist.

7. Consult, sign on, keep it on site and review it

Consult the workers who will do the job, and their health and safety representative if there is one. Get them to read and sign the SWMS. On a construction project, give a copy to the principal contractor before the HRCW starts. Keep it available for inspection until the work is finished. Review it whenever the work, the crew or the conditions change, and stop work if the SWMS isn't being followed.

Write it faster

Steps 3 to 6 take the longest. Our AI SWMS generator drafts them from a short description of the job, your trade and your state. You then check and edit everything for your site, because an AI draft is a starting point and not an approval of the work. Find your trade on the SWMS by trade page.

Creating an account and drafting are free with no card. Downloading the PDF is on the $20 AUD/month plan, which covers unlimited documents.

Sources: Model WHS Regulations, regulations 291 to 303; Safe Work Australia SWMS information sheet; WorkSafe Victoria SWMS guidance. General information only, not legal advice.