Australia Model Code of Practice: Excavation Work 3.3b: 3.3 Prepare the SWMS before high risk construction work starts and coordinate who prepares it

Before high risk construction work begins, a PCBU has to prepare a SWMS or make sure one exists. The person responsible for doing the work is best placed to write it with the workers who will be directly involved. Where several PCBUs each have the duty, they must consult and cooperate to agree who will actually prepare it. Several kinds of high risk construction work may happen at the same place and time, for example work with a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres, work near a trench deeper than 1.5 metres, and work where powered mobile plant could collide with pedestrians or other plant. One SWMS may cover all of them, or a separate SWMS may be prepared for each; if separate, the PCBU should consider how the activities affect each other and whether controls conflict.