Free SWMS template
Jump to download form ↓Enter your email below to download the PDF-ready SWMS template. No account required.
A Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is a legal requirement under Australian WHS Regulations for all high-risk construction work. It documents the work activities, identifies hazards at each step, and sets out the control measures to manage those risks. This page explains what a SWMS is, when you need one, what to include, and provides a free PDF-ready template you can download and use straight away.
Last updated: 2026-04-17 · MapTrack
Commercial Director
How to use: Enter project details, tick high-risk work types, list each work step with hazards and controls, complete the sign-on register, then save as PDF (Print, then Save as PDF).
- ✓ PDF-ready. Open and print to PDF
- ✓ Covers work steps, hazards, risk ratings, controls, PPE and sign-on register
- ✓ Free to use with or without MapTrack
Download free PDF template
Trusted by Australian fleets and contractors
We use your email to send your download and occasional MapTrack updates. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy
Preview the template
See the first part of the SWMS below. Enter your email above to download the full template (PDF-ready).
What is a Safe Work Method Statement?
A Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is a written document required under the Australian Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations before any high-risk construction work begins. It identifies the type of high-risk work, breaks the job into steps, lists the hazards associated with each step, assesses the risk level, and describes the control measures that will be used to eliminate or minimise those risks. Every worker involved in the high-risk work must read and sign onto the SWMS before starting.
A SWMS is not just a compliance document. When prepared properly and reviewed on site, it is a practical tool that ensures everyone involved understands the hazards they face and the controls they must follow. It is the principal contractor's responsibility to ensure a SWMS is in place, but the workers carrying out the task should be involved in preparing it.
Benefits of using a SWMS
- Legal compliance: a SWMS is mandatory for high-risk construction work under Australian WHS Regulations. Without one, a PCBU faces enforcement action and penalties.
- Risk reduction: breaking work into steps and identifying hazards at each step forces a structured risk assessment before work begins, catching risks that might otherwise be overlooked.
- Worker awareness: every worker signs onto the SWMS, confirming they have read and understood the hazards and controls. This creates shared accountability on site.
- Audit trail: a signed SWMS provides documented evidence that risks were assessed, controls were planned, and workers were informed, which is critical during regulator audits and incident investigations.
- Subcontractor management: principal contractors can require subcontractors to submit a SWMS before starting work, ensuring consistent safety standards across all trades on site.
- Incident defence: in the event of a workplace incident, a properly completed SWMS demonstrates that the PCBU took reasonably practicable steps to manage the risk.
Benefits of digitising forms in MapTrack
When you move your checklists from paper to MapTrack, you get:
- Field users can easily scan a QR code to complete a form on mobile. Unlimited users.
- Automatically get alerts when faults are identified.
- Link every form digitally as a PDF to the relevant asset, location or person.
- Receive a digital PDF copy with every submission to your email.
- Ability to share forms digitally.
- Build conditional logic (show or hide questions based on answers).
- Take pictures or attach photos. Not possible with a paper-based form.
- Electronic signatures.
- Edit forms later without reprinting.
- Restrict permissions (who can view, complete or approve).
- Build forms with AI (describe what you need and MapTrack suggests the form).
- Escalate critical hazards instantly to safety managers via push notification.
- Maintain an auditable safety register that satisfies WHS regulator requests.
- Correlate incident trends across sites with built-in safety analytics.
Book a demo to see digital inspections and forms in MapTrack.
Try MapTrack free for 30 days
Full access to every feature. No credit card required. Per-asset pricing so you scale as your fleet grows.
- No credit card required
- 30 days free trial
- Cancel anytime
What to include in a SWMS
Our free SWMS template includes:
- High-risk work activity: the specific type of high-risk construction work being carried out (e.g. working at heights, demolition, confined space entry).
- Work steps: each task or activity broken into sequential steps, from set-up through to pack-down.
- Hazards per step: the hazards identified for each work step (e.g. falls, falling objects, electrical contact, crush injuries).
- Risk rating: a risk assessment for each hazard (High, Medium or Low) based on likelihood and consequence.
- Control measures: the specific controls to eliminate or minimise each risk, following the hierarchy of controls.
- Responsible persons: who is responsible for implementing each control measure.
- PPE requirements: the personal protective equipment required for the work (hard hat, harness, respirator, etc.).
- Emergency procedures: what to do if something goes wrong, including emergency contacts and rescue plans.
- Sign-on register: every worker involved in the high-risk work signs to confirm they have read, understood and agreed to follow the SWMS.
How to complete a SWMS
- Enter the project details: project name, site address, principal contractor, date and revision number.
- Identify the type of high-risk construction work and tick the relevant categories.
- Break the job into sequential work steps, from mobilisation through to demobilisation.
- For each step, identify the hazards, assign a risk rating (H/M/L), and describe the control measures to manage each risk.
- Record PPE requirements and emergency procedures for the work activity.
- Brief all workers on the SWMS before work begins and have each worker sign the sign-on register.
In MapTrack, SWMS forms are completed on mobile and linked directly to the project or site. Workers can sign on digitally, photos attach to each submission, and completed SWMS are stored with the project record for audit purposes. Book a demo to see how.
What is high-risk construction work?
The model Work Health and Safety Regulations define 19 types of high-risk construction work. A SWMS must be prepared before any of the following activities are carried out on a construction site:
- Work where there is a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres
- Work on or near energised electrical installations or services
- Work in an area that may have a contaminated or flammable atmosphere
- Work involving tilt-up or pre-cast concrete
- Work on or near pressurised gas mains, distribution piping or consumer piping
- Work on or near chemical, fuel or refrigerant lines
- Work on or near telecommunications towers
- Demolition of a load-bearing structure
- Work involving the disturbance or removal of asbestos
- Work involving structural alterations or repairs that require temporary support to prevent collapse
- Work in or near a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 metres
- Work in or near a tunnel
- Work involving the use of explosives
- Work on or near a road or railway in use
- Work in an area with artificial extremes of temperature
- Work in, on or near water or other liquid where there is a risk of drowning
- Diving work
- Work involving powered mobile plant on a construction site (cranes, excavators, forklifts, EWPs)
- Work involving the erection, dismantling or alteration of scaffolding
If the work falls into any of these categories, a SWMS is required before the work begins. Failure to prepare a SWMS is an offence under the WHS Act and can result in penalties for the PCBU and officers.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a SWMS?
- A Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is a document that sets out the high-risk construction work activities to be carried out, the hazards arising from those activities, and the measures to be put in place to control the risks. Under Australian WHS Regulations, a SWMS must be prepared before any high-risk construction work begins.
- When is a SWMS required in Australia?
- A SWMS is required whenever high-risk construction work is carried out, as defined in the model Work Health and Safety Regulations. This includes work at heights, demolition, work in confined spaces, excavation deeper than 1.5 metres, work near energised electrical installations, work involving scaffolding, powered mobile plant on construction sites, hazardous chemicals, and 11 other categories listed in the WHS Regulations.
- Who prepares a SWMS?
- The person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) that commissions the high-risk construction work must ensure a SWMS is prepared before work starts. In practice, this is usually done by the principal contractor, subcontractor or site supervisor responsible for the work, in consultation with the workers who will carry out the activities.
- Is this SWMS template free to use without MapTrack?
- Yes. Download and use the SWMS template for free. Open the file and use your browser's Print, then Save as PDF. No MapTrack account required. If you later want digital SWMS forms linked to each project with compliance tracking, automated alerts and audit history, we would be happy to show you MapTrack.
Need digital SWMS with compliance tracking?
Create and manage SWMS digitally in MapTrack. Workers sign on via mobile, photos and documents attach to each submission, and every completed SWMS is stored against the project for audit and compliance purposes.
Compliance · Forms · Construction · Resources