Product Overview

This Post-Tensioning (Monostrand) Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is developed to help your team plan, document, and control the high-risk activities involved in post-tensioned concrete works. It is a comprehensive, project-ready document that supports WHS compliance and manages the specific hazards associated with post-tensioning operations on Australian construction sites.

Activities & Specific Tasks Covered

This document includes specific risk controls for:

• Planning and sequencing of post-tensioning (monostrand) works, including coordination with concrete placement and formwork trades
• Delivery, unloading, and safe handling of monostrand coils, anchorage components, ducts, wedges, and stressing equipment on site
• Storage, manual handling, and mechanical lifting of heavy post-tensioning materials to minimise musculoskeletal and crush injuries
• Installation and fixing of ducts, anchors, and monostrands within formwork prior to concrete placement
• Management of trip hazards, penetrations, and exposed tendons across decks, suspended slabs, and work platforms
• Safe operation of hydraulic stressing jacks, pumps, and gauges during stressing of monostrands
• Control of high-energy hazards associated with tensioned strands, including exclusion zones and emergency procedures for strand failure
• Monitoring, recording, and verification of stressing forces and elongations to meet engineering specifications
• Grouting operations for post-tensioning ducts, including mixing, pumping, and hose management
• Use of elevated work platforms, scaffolds, and edge protection when working on suspended slabs and leading edges
• Electrical safety for powered stressing and grouting equipment, including inspection, tagging, and RCD use
• Noise, dust, and vibration controls associated with cutting strands, trimming anchors, and general construction activities
• Housekeeping, waste management, and control of offcuts, protruding wires, and debris on decks and access ways
• Emergency response planning for equipment failure, strand breakage, concrete blowouts, and worker injury

Who is this for?

This SWMS is designed for post-tensioning contractors, concrete and formwork contractors, structural contractors, principal contractors, and site supervisors involved in post-tensioned concrete construction.

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 post-tensioning operations
• Code of Practice: Managing the Risk of Falls in Housing Construction – Relevant where post-tensioning occurs on elevated decks and leading edges
• Code of Practice: Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work – Controls for noise from cutting, stressing, and associated construction plant
• Code of Practice: Hazardous Manual Tasks – Requirements for managing risks from lifting and handling heavy coils and equipment
• Code of Practice: Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace – Safe use of stressing jacks, pumps, grouting equipment, and lifting gear
• AS 3600 Concrete Structures – Design and detailing requirements for concrete structures, including post-tensioned elements
• AS/NZS 1576 Scaffolding – Requirements for scaffolding used to access post-tensioning work areas
• AS/NZS 1891 Industrial Fall-Arrest Systems and Devices – Use of harnesses and fall-arrest equipment where required
• AS/NZS 3012 Electrical Installations – Construction and Demolition Sites – Electrical safety for temporary power and equipment used during stressing and grouting
• Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• Work Health and Safety Regulations 2017