Product Overview

This Confined Space Entry and Rescue Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is a fully editable safety document designed to identify hazards, assess risks, and implement controls for all stages of confined space work and rescue operations. It provides a comprehensive, integrated approach to confined space safety and WHS compliance across multiple environments, plant types, and work methods.

Activities & Specific Tasks Covered

This document includes specific risk controls for:

• Safe access and egress procedures for tight, restricted, or difficult-to-reach spaces
• Planning and execution of confined space entry and exit, including isolation, permitting, and standby personnel
• Confined space entry during drilling operations, including interaction with plant, services, and vibration hazards
• Confined space entry during maintenance activities, including inspection, cleaning, and repair tasks
• Welding, cutting, and hot work inside confined spaces, including fire, fume, and explosion controls
• Identification, monitoring, and control of sewer gases and other hazardous atmospheres
• Entry into maintenance tunnels, pits, and similar underground confined spaces
• Entry into gas tanks for internal cleaning, inspection, and repair works
• Work in basements, cellars, and below-ground structures with limited natural ventilation
• Management of risks associated with poor or improper ventilation, including use of mechanical ventilation and atmospheric testing
• Work inside tanks, vessels, silos, and other enclosed containers with restricted access
• Manoeuvring through tight spaces and navigating complex confined space layouts safely
• Participation in confined space entry as entrant, standby, or permit issuer, including communication protocols
• Confined space work in fuel storage tanks, including flammable vapour control and ignition source management
• Emergency response and rescue procedures for incapacitated workers within confined spaces

Who is this for?

This SWMS is designed for maintenance crews, industrial cleaners, mechanical and electrical trades, tank and vessel contractors, water and wastewater utilities, emergency response teams, and site supervisors responsible for confined space entry and rescue operations.

Specific Job Steps & Hazards Covered

Legislation & References

This document was researched and developed to align with:

• Safe Work Australia – Confined Spaces Code of Practice: Guidance on managing risks associated with work in confined spaces
• Safe Work Australia – How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice: Framework for hazard identification, risk assessment, and control implementation
• Safe Work Australia – First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice: Requirements for first aid arrangements supporting confined space work
• Safe Work Australia – Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice: Relevant where access to confined spaces involves ladders, hatches, or elevated work areas
• AS 2865 Confined Spaces: Requirements and guidance for entry, working in, and rescue from confined spaces
• AS/NZS 60079 (Explosive Atmospheres series): Applicable to confined space work in flammable or explosive atmospheres such as fuel storage tanks
• AS/NZS 1715 & AS/NZS 1716: Selection, use, and performance of respiratory protective equipment for hazardous atmospheres
• AS/NZS 1891 (Industrial fall-arrest systems and devices): Use of harnesses and retrieval systems for vertical entry and rescue
• Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• Work Health and Safety Regulations 2017