Product Overview

This Concreting Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is a site-ready document designed to identify hazards, assess risks, and implement effective controls for all typical concreting activities. It provides comprehensive coverage of planning, set-up, placement, finishing, and clean-up tasks to support WHS compliance and safer management of High Risk Construction Work involving concrete.

Activities & Specific Tasks Covered

This document includes specific risk controls for:

• Planning and sequencing of concreting works, including coordination with other trades and site traffic management
• Site preparation, inspection of formwork, reinforcement, and access ways prior to concrete placement
• Safe delivery, handling, and placement of premixed concrete from agitator trucks and concrete pumps
• Use of concrete pumps, lines, and hoses, including set-up, pressure control, exclusion zones, and line clearing
• Manual handling of tools, screeds, vibrators, and formwork components to minimise musculoskeletal injuries
• Operation of mechanical and hand-held concrete vibrators, including noise, vibration, and electrical safety controls
• Concrete finishing activities such as screeding, trowelling, edging, and jointing, including slip, trip, and strain risk controls
• Use of ride-on and walk-behind power trowels, with guarding, operator competence, and plant inspection requirements
• Working around reinforcing steel, mesh, and formwork, including impalement prevention and stability controls
• Working at heights on decks, suspended slabs, and formwork platforms, including fall prevention and edge protection
• Controls for exposure to wet concrete, cement dust, and additives, including PPE, skin protection, and hygiene measures
• Managing environmental risks such as concrete washout, slurry runoff, and protection of drains and waterways
• Emergency response planning for concrete-related incidents, including entrapment, splashes, and plant failures

Who is this for?

This SWMS is designed for concreters, formworkers, steel fixers, builders, civil contractors, and site supervisors responsible for managing concreting operations on Australian construction sites.

Specific Job Steps & Hazards Covered

Legislation & References

This document was researched and developed to align with:

• Code of Practice: Construction Work – Guidance on managing risks associated with construction activities, including concreting and related high risk work
• Code of Practice: Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces – Requirements for preventing falls during work on decks, formwork, and elevated slabs
• Code of Practice: Hazardous Manual Tasks – Controls for lifting, carrying, and repetitive movements common in concreting
• Code of Practice: Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work – Guidance for noise from concrete pumps, vibrators, and power trowels
• Code of Practice: Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace – Management of risks from cement, admixtures, and concrete additives
• AS 3600 Concrete Structures – Design and construction requirements for concrete structures (referenced where relevant to safe construction practices)
• AS 2550 Cranes, Hoists and Winches – Safe Use – Referenced where lifting equipment is used to handle formwork or concrete elements
• Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• Work Health and Safety Regulations 2017