Concreting SWMS for Concreter Contractors

When you need this document

A builder or principal contractor is asking for a site-specific SWMS before you can get on the job, or your work falls under a high risk construction work category and the law requires one before work starts.

What it covers for concreter work

Typical hazards addressed: respirable crystalline silica from cutting and grinding, concrete pump line whipping, cement skin burns, rebar impalement, formwork collapse, powered mobile plant (agitators, pumps). Citations from the Concreter focus list:

• §reg 36: hierarchy of controls for silica dust (wet cutting, on-tool extraction before RPE)
• §AS 3610: formwork for concrete
• §reg 78 and reg 79: falls at formwork edges and penetrations
• §reg 304: the person with management or control of the workplace must take all reasonable steps to obtain current underground essential services information for the excavation area and adjacent areas before directing or allowing the excavation to start, and must give it to any person it engages to carry out the excavation; that person, and any business given the information, must have regard to it. A contractor that does not manage or control the workplace gets the information from the person with management or control of the workplace (normally the principal contractor) before excavating
• §reg 305: manage the risks of any excavation work under Part 3.1, including a person falling into the excavation, being trapped by its collapse, being struck by a falling thing or exposed to an airborne contaminant, having regard to the nature of the excavation, the work method and the means of entry and exit. Barricading or isolating the area around an excavation shallower than 1.5 m is a control under this duty (with reg 36), never under reg 306
• §reg 306: before excavating a trench at least 1.5 m deep, secure the work area from unauthorised access and support all sides by shoring, benching or battering, unless a geotechnical engineer advises in writing that the sides are safe from collapse. The duty applies to a trench 1.5 m deep or deeper. It sets no inspection frequency, so trench inspection is written as good practice without this citation. Securing the area around a shallower excavation is NOT this duty (see reg 305)
• §reg 44 to reg 47: PPE duties (cement burns, eye protection, RPE)

What's inside

• ✓ Title block: PCBU, principal contractor, site address, prepared and review dates
• ✓ High risk construction work categories identified for your activity
• ✓ Step-by-step work method with hazards, risk ratings, and controls
• ✓ Controls in hierarchy order: eliminate, substitute, isolate, engineer, administer, PPE
• ✓ Plant, equipment, permits, licences, and training requirements
• ✓ Emergency procedures and review triggers
• ✓ Your state’s legislation cited (WHS Regulation, or OHS Regulations in Victoria)
• ✓ Worker consultation and sign-off block