Excavation / Earthmoving WHS Documents in Queensland
Written to Queensland legislation · delivered in about 4 minutes · free revision within 24h
Excavation / earthmovings working in Queensland need a core WHS document set built around a site-specific SWMS for each high risk activity, cited to the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld). In Queensland the regulator is Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, and the duty to prepare a SWMS before high risk construction work sits in WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) reg 299. The documents are the same as any state; what must be correct here is the legislation each one cites.
The WHS documents a excavation / earthmoving needs in Queensland
- ✓ A site-specific SWMS for each high risk activity, cited to the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) reg 299)
- ✓ A SWMS register indexing every document, version and review date
- ✓ High risk work licences and excavation / earthmoving trade licences recognised in Queensland
- ✓ Safety Data Sheets for hazardous chemicals, and a chemical register
- ✓ Site induction record and daily sign-on / SWMS acknowledgement sheets
The SWMS a excavation / earthmoving usually needs
One SWMS per high risk construction work activity. The Trade SWMS Pack generates all of them, cited to Queensland law:
- ✓ Trench excavation deeper than 1.5 m with shoring or benching
- ✓ Bulk excavation with excavator and truck movements
- ✓ Excavation near underground services (locate and pothole)
- ✓ Working near overhead powerlines
- ✓ Excavation adjacent to roads and traffic corridors
- ✓ Footing, pier and shaft excavation
- ✓ Backfilling and compaction with mobile plant
- ✓ Spotter and exclusion zone procedures around plant
The Queensland law behind it
| Regulator | Workplace Health and Safety Queensland |
| Principal Act | Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) |
| Regulations | Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) |
| Duty to prepare a SWMS | WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) reg 299 |
| High risk construction work defined in | WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) reg 291 |
Electrical work in Queensland is regulated separately under the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld) and Electrical Safety Regulation 2013, which sit alongside the WHS Regulation, so electrical SWMS on Queensland sites should account for both regimes.
Queensland was the first state to enact an industrial manslaughter offence (2017, s 34C WHS Act 2011 (Qld)) and recorded Australia's first conviction in 2020; the maximum penalty is 20 years imprisonment for an individual or a $10 million fine for a body corporate. That is the enforcement backdrop your WHS document set has to stand up to on a Queensland site.
The hazards these documents have to control
A excavation / earthmoving SWMS in Queensland is judged on whether it names and controls the hazards the trade actually meets:
- ⚠ Trench and excavation collapse
- ⚠ Underground service strikes
- ⚠ Overhead powerlines
- ⚠ Powered mobile plant near workers on foot
- ⚠ Traffic on adjacent roads
- ⚠ Water ingress
The high risk work that triggers a excavation / earthmoving's SWMS
- ✓ Work in or near a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 m, or a tunnel
- ✓ Work in an area with movement of powered mobile plant
- ✓ Work on, in or adjacent to a road, railway or other traffic corridor in use
- ✓ Work on or near energised electrical installations or services
Every SWMS a excavation / earthmoving needs in Queensland, in one go
The Trade SWMS Pack generates all 8 SWMS above from one questionnaire, cited to Queensland law, plus the register, toolbox talks and sign-on sheets, for A$179.
See the Trade SWMS PackKeep exploring
Excavation / Earthmoving WHS documents (all states)Excavation / Earthmoving SWMS for QLDSWMS requirements by stateTrade SWMS Pack
Excavation / Earthmoving WHS documents in other states: