Automatic Door Operator Install SWMS
This Safe Work Method Statement covers the installation and commissioning of a powered door operator on a swing or sliding door at a dwelling, residential aged-care unit or Specialist Disability Accommodation dwelling, so an occupant who cannot manage a manual door can enter and leave independently.
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A powered door operator is often the modification that decides whether an occupant can live independently at all. Someone who cannot generate the force to push a self-closing entry door, or who cannot hold a door open while manoeuvring a wheelchair through it, is effectively confined by that door. This SWMS covers the installation and commissioning of swing and sliding door operators at dwellings, residential aged-care units and Specialist Disability Accommodation — verifying the door leaf, frame and structure will carry the operator loads, fixing the header, track or spindle unit, running and terminating the electrical supply, mounting activation devices and safety sensors, and commissioning the unit.
Two serious risks run through this work and they belong to different people. The installer's risk is electric shock while connecting the operator to a 240 V supply and while working at the header. The occupant's risk is being struck or trapped by a powered door — and that risk is created not by a fault but by a commissioning decision. A door set to close at a speed and force appropriate for an able-bodied adult will strike a person crossing slowly with a walker. A sensor commissioned on motion detection alone will stop detecting a person who pauses mid-doorway, which is exactly what a walker user does. This document therefore treats closing force, speed, hold-open time and sensor coverage as hazard controls with measured, recorded values rather than as adjustments made by feel.
The third issue is what happens when the power fails. An occupant who cannot open a door manually, behind a powered door with no usable release, is trapped in an emergency. The controls require the manual release to be proven by simulating a power failure before handover, with the occupant or their carer performing the release themselves — because a release the occupant cannot physically operate is not a release.
Where the work is carried out on or near energised electrical installations, or a header is fixed more than 2 metres above the floor, it is high risk construction work under section 291 and a Safe Work Method Statement is required under section 299. All electrical work is performed by a licensed electrician; this document does not authorise an unlicensed person to connect a supply or work on energised equipment.
Hazards identified
12 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Cardiac arrest and arc flash burns; Part 4.7 prohibits energised work except in the limited circumstances the Regulation allows
Knockdown and fracture in a person with impaired balance; a door commissioned for an able-bodied user will strike a walker user
Occupant unable to evacuate in an emergency; entrapment in a dwelling during an outage
Fall onto a hard floor or door threshold; head and spinal injury
Crush and impact injury; operators apply dynamic loads well beyond the static weight of the door
Hand and finger crush at the hinge line and leading edge; the door cycles under power during adjustment
Acute shoulder and lumbar injury; sustained overhead holding while fixings are made
Electrocution or flooding; the zone directly above a door commonly carries switch and light wiring
A seated or slow-moving occupant is not detected and the door closes on them; the classic entrapment path
Occupant cannot use the door independently, or must stand in the door path to activate it
Injury from an unsupported door leaf or an uncommissioned powered cycle
Impact or entrapment by a door whose force, speed and sensors have not yet been verified
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Isolate the supply at the switchboard, test for dead at the point of work with a tested instrument, and apply a personal lock and tag before any conductor is touched.
- 2Perform all electrical work with a licensed electrician only, and confine live commissioning to what genuinely cannot be done de-energised, with a second person present.
- 3Issue a certificate of compliance for electrical work before handover, with the circuit protected by a residual current device.
- 4Commission closing force and speed to the limits in AS 5007 and to the slowest setting the occupant's actual crossing speed requires — never a factory default.
- 5Measure closing force with a force gauge and record the value; do not judge it by hand.
- 6Set hold-open time from the occupant's measured crossing time with a margin, and select low-energy operation where the product allows.
- 7Walk-test the sensor detection zone from every approach the occupant will use — including at wheelchair seat height and with a deliberately slow crossing that simulates a pause mid-doorway.
- 8Use presence detection rather than motion detection alone, because motion detection drops out when a person stops moving.
- 9Select an operator whose manual release the specific occupant can physically operate, assessed against their strength and reach rather than assumed.
- 10Prove the manual release by simulating a power failure before handover, with the occupant or carer performing the release themselves, and leave a large-print instruction at the door.
- 11Verify the substrate and structural capacity of the head, jamb and surrounding wall before any fixing, allowing for the dynamic loads the operator applies.
- 12Support the assembly mechanically until every fixing is made, and never leave it partly fixed and unsupported.
- 13Complete all mechanical adjustment with the operator isolated, and only then energise for functional testing.
- 14Barricade the door path during powered testing, keep the emergency stop within reach, and keep hands, tools and body out of the hinge line and leading edge while energised.
- 15Locate cables and pipework across the full fixing zone before drilling, and set a drill depth stop to the minimum penetration the fixing requires.
- 16Leave the operator isolated and the door in manual mode whenever the installer is not present, so a partly commissioned door cannot cycle.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Governs isolation, testing for dead, lock-out and the limited circumstances in which energised work is permitted.
Sets the framework for SWMS preparation and high risk construction work involving energised electrical services and work at height.
Governs platform selection for header and overhead sensor work, and the preference for fall prevention over fall arrest.
Applies to overhead handling of the header or track assembly at arm's length while fixings are made.
Applies to the powered door as plant — guarding of the closing edge, safety devices and commissioning before use.
The technical standard for closing force and speed limits, safety sensor provision and positioning, and manual operation on loss of power.
Govern the electrical installation, and the opening force, clear width and activation device reach ranges respectively.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Engaged because the operator is connected to a 240 V supply, and because commissioning requires some testing with the unit energised. This category applies to virtually every powered door installation.
Engaged where the header or track is fixed more than 2 m above the floor, which is common on external entries and in dwellings with high ceilings. Where a platform is used and the header is lower, this category may not apply — the purchaser resolves it on site.
Where either category applies, the work is high risk construction work under section 291 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation and a Safe Work Method Statement must be prepared before the work commences under section 299. Separately and independently, Part 4.7 of the Regulation prohibits work on energised electrical equipment except in the limited circumstances it allows, and all electrical work must be performed by a licensed electrician who issues a certificate of compliance for electrical work. The SWMS must be reviewed under section 302 whenever the operator, door leaf or sensor arrangement changes, or an impact or entrapment event occurs.
Who this is for
- →Door automation technicians and installers working in occupied dwellings and aged-care units
- →Licensed electricians connecting and commissioning powered door operators
- →Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) builders delivering Fully Accessible and High Physical Support dwellings
- →Aged-care and retirement-village maintenance contractors retrofitting powered entries
- →Occupational therapists and case managers specifying powered doors under NDIS or Home Care Package funding
What you receive
- ✓Editable Microsoft Word (.docx) document delivered as an instant download.
- ✓Fourteen identified hazards, each with an initial risk rating, a full control set written to the hierarchy of control, a residual rating and a nominated responsible person.
- ✓Nine regulatory reference bullets citing the governing sections verbatim, including the Part 4.7 prohibition on energised electrical work.
- ✓A completed risk matrix using 5×5 likelihood × consequence scoring with both initial and residual ratings.
- ✓A PPE matrix mapping each task to the required protective equipment and the actual AS/NZS standard it must comply with.
- ✓Emergency response provisions covering electric shock, a person struck or trapped by the door, falls, header failure and power failure with the occupant at the door.
- ✓The notifiable incident duty with the regulator's notification number, covering injury to the occupant as well as to workers.
- ✓A worker sign-on register for recording that each person has read and understood the statement before starting.
- ✓Fully editable text so your PCBU details, site address, personnel, plant and site-specific controls can be inserted.
- ✓State-specific variants available for all eight Australian jurisdictions with the correct Act, Regulation and regulator for each.
Worked example
A technician installs a swing door operator on the front entry of a villa unit for an occupant with advanced multiple sclerosis who uses a powered wheelchair and has limited hand function. The electrical work is straightforward: the circuit is isolated at the board, locked and tagged, tested for dead, and the electrician terminates and issues the compliance certificate. The commissioning is where the job is actually made or lost. The factory default closing speed would close the door in about four seconds. The technician measures the occupant's crossing time through the doorway in her chair, including the slight pause she makes to line up the turn: eleven seconds. Hold-open is set to fifteen. Closing force is measured with a gauge and adjusted down until it is within the AS 5007 limit, and the reading is written on the commissioning record rather than described as 'gentle'. The sensor is the part that nearly went wrong. Mounted and set up to the standard pattern, it detected the technician walking through perfectly. Walk-tested at wheelchair seat height it also detected. But when the technician sat in a spare chair and paused mid-doorway — as the occupant does while turning — the motion-only detection dropped out after a few seconds and the door began to close. The sensor is swapped for a presence-detecting unit and re-tested through every approach. Finally the technician kills the power at the board and asks the occupant to operate the manual release herself. She cannot — the lever needs more grip strength than she has. The operator is changed for a model with a break-out function she can push through with her chair. Every one of those three decisions came from testing with the actual occupant rather than to a specification. A door commissioned to the defaults would have passed inspection, worked perfectly for the installer, and struck the occupant within a week.
Related legislation
- Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) — section 19 primary duty of care extending to the occupant, section 47 consultation, sections 35–38 notifiable incidents
- Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) — section 291 high risk construction work, section 299 SWMS required, section 302 review
- Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) — Part 4.7 Electrical safety including the prohibition on energised electrical work
- Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) — Part 4.4 Managing the risk of falls and Part 4.2 Hazardous manual tasks
- AS 5007 Powered doors for pedestrian access and egress, and AS/NZS 3000 Wiring Rules
- National Construction Code and AS 1428.1 — opening force, clear width and accessible entry provisions
Frequently asked questions
Can I install the operator and have an electrician connect it later?
Yes, and that is the normal division of work — but the SWMS covers both parts because the hazards interact. The mechanical installation must be complete and the assembly mechanically supported before any electrical connection, and all mechanical adjustment must be done with the operator isolated. Only a licensed electrician isolates, terminates, tests and issues the certificate of compliance for electrical work. This document does not authorise an unlicensed person to connect the supply.
What closing force is actually allowed?
AS 5007 sets the limits for powered pedestrian doors, and the document requires the force to be measured with a gauge and the value recorded rather than judged by hand. Just as important, it requires the setting to suit the specific occupant: the standard is a ceiling, not a target. An occupant crossing slowly with a walker needs a slower, lower-force setting than the limit permits.
Why does the sensor need testing at seated height and with a slow crossing?
Because that is how the entrapment actually happens. A sensor commissioned on motion detection alone will detect an able-bodied person walking through, then drop out when someone stops moving — and a walker or wheelchair user routinely pauses mid-doorway to line up a turn. The controls require presence detection rather than motion alone, walk-tested at wheelchair seat height, from every approach, with a deliberate pause.
What happens in a power failure?
This is one of the most important checks in the document and one of the most commonly skipped. The operator must have a manual release or break-out function that the specific occupant can physically operate, and the controls require it to be proven by simulating a power failure before handover — with the occupant or their carer performing the release themselves. A release that needs more grip strength than the occupant has is not a release, and leaves them unable to evacuate.
Does this cover automatic gates or roller shutters?
No. Those are different products governed by different standards and carry different hazards, particularly around entrapment and vehicle interaction. This document covers powered swing and sliding pedestrian door operators at dwellings, aged-care units and SDA housing.
Which states does this cover?
All eight Australian jurisdictions. The NSW version cites the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) and Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) with SafeWork NSW as the regulator. Each state variant carries the correct Act, Regulation and regulator — and in Queensland and Victoria electrical work is additionally regulated under the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld) and Electricity Safety Act 1998 (Vic) respectively. AS 5007, AS/NZS 3000 and AS 1428.1 are national.