Marine & Waterfront SWMS Templates

Yes. Diving work performed as part of construction activity falls within Schedule 3 Category 17 of the WHS Regulation 2025 — work carried out in or near water or other liquid that involves a risk of drowning. This means a SWMS must be prepared before work commences, kept available on site, and reviewed if controls change or an incident occurs. Divers must also hold competencies aligned to AS/NZS 2299.1 and operate under a documented diving project plan and dive supervisor.

Yes. SSBA (surface-supplied breathing apparatus) and SCUBA present materially different hazards — gas supply redundancy, umbilical management, communications, and emergency ascent procedures all differ. AS/NZS 2299.1 treats them as distinct operational modes, and the WHS Regulation 2025 Part 4.8 requires controls specific to each technique. A single generic diving SWMS will not adequately address the residual risk profile, so most marine PCBUs maintain separate SWMS documents per diving mode.

A SWMS is a task-level WHS document required under the WHS Regulation 2025 for high-risk construction work, listing hazards, controls and responsible persons for a specific activity. A vessel SMS is required under the Navigation Act 2012 or Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law and covers the entire vessel's operation, crewing, maintenance and emergency response. Both are required when commercial construction or diving is performed from a domestic commercial vessel — they operate in parallel, not as substitutes.

If the work involves diving, working over water with drowning risk, or other high-risk construction work categories under Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation 2025, a SWMS is mandatory. Even where activity falls outside HRCW thresholds, the PCBU still has a primary duty under section 19 of the WHS Act to identify and control risks — including cold water immersion, entanglement in nets, manual handling of morts, and vessel collision. A documented SWMS is the most defensible way to demonstrate that duty has been discharged.

The model WHS Regulation 2025 has been adopted in most Australian jurisdictions with minor variation, so a well-drafted SWMS is largely portable. However, marine work attracts additional state-based duties under Marine Safety Acts, port authority requirements and Fisheries legislation that differ by state — particularly in Western Australia and Victoria, which operate non-harmonised WHS frameworks. Templates should be reviewed against the local regulator's guidance and any port-specific induction requirements before deployment.