Bridge Maintenance & Painting SWMS
SWMS template for bridge maintenance & painting. Covers Maintenance painting, lead removal.. 8-state AU coverage, CIH-reviewed editable DOCX, available as an instant download.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Bridge maintenance and painting covers the maintenance and painting of bridges — accessing the bridge structure to carry out surface preparation, painting and maintenance, often at height and over water or roads. The defining hazards are the work at height with its fall risk, the work over water with its drowning risk, the surface preparation and paint with their dust and fumes, and the access to the structure. This document is written on the basis that bridge maintenance and painting is carried out with the falls, water, surface-prep and access controls in place, and a SWMS for the high risk construction work.
Bridge maintenance and painting is carried out as construction work in connection with the falls requirements, with the work at height controlled against falls, the work over water controlled against drowning, the surface preparation and paint managed, and the access to the structure managed. Because the work involves a risk of a fall more than 2 metres and is over water with a drowning risk, it is high risk construction work. The falls, the water, the surface prep and paint, and the access are the considerations. This document coordinates the falls, water, surface-prep and access controls so the bridge maintenance and painting is carried out safely.
Hazards identified
9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Falls from height accessing and working on the bridge
Drowning from work over water
Respiratory exposure from surface preparation dust, including older coatings
Respiratory and skin exposure to paint and solvent fumes
Falls and entrapment accessing the structure
Confined and restricted access under the deck
Impact injury from falling objects and tools
Being struck by road traffic where the bridge is over a road
Exposure to hazardous materials in older coatings
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Engineering: provide fall prevention for work at height — edge protection, work platforms, scaffolds, elevating work platforms or under-bridge access units, with a harness-based system where higher-order controls are not practicable — to the managing the risk of falls Code of Practice.
- 2Engineering: where the work is over or near water with a risk of drowning, provide the controls — edge protection, rescue equipment, life jackets and a person overboard procedure.
- 3Engineering: control the surface preparation dust at the source with extraction and containment, with respiratory protection, recognising older coatings may contain hazardous materials such as lead, which are assessed and managed.
- 4Administrative: manage the paints, line-marking materials, sealers, solvents and fuels to their safety data sheets, with ventilation, skin protection and ignition-source control where flammable.
- 5Engineering: provide safe access to the structure — under-bridge access units, rope access or elevating work platforms — and manage any under-deck confined and restricted access with the confined space controls where applicable.
- 6Engineering: control falling objects and tools with exclusion and protection, and where the bridge is over a road manage the road traffic.
- 7Administrative: assess and manage older coatings and hazardous materials before disturbing them.
- 8Administrative: because the work is carried out where there is a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres, prepare a SWMS for the high risk construction work before it commences, with the fall-prevention controls implemented.
- 9Administrative: because the work is in or near water with a risk of drowning, prepare a SWMS for the high risk construction work before it commences, with the water-safety controls implemented.
- 10Administrative: all workers must hold a valid White Card (General Construction Induction Training, CPCCWHS1001), with the plant tickets, traffic control accreditation, confined space, and other competencies required for the work.
- 11Administrative: conduct a pre-start toolbox talk covering the day's work, identified hazards, the traffic and plant movements, required PPE and emergency procedures, and record attendance in the consultation section.
- 12Administrative: consult workers and any health and safety representatives on the work and its risks, record the consultation, and keep this document available at the workplace.
- 13PPE: high-visibility clothing to AS/NZS 4602.1, eye protection, hearing protection where required, gloves appropriate to the task, and Class I or Class II safety footwear with protective toecap to AS/NZS 2210.3.
- 14Administrative: review and update this SWMS whenever the work scope changes, after any incident or near miss, when a worker or health and safety representative raises a concern, when new hazards are identified, or at minimum every 12 months.
- 15Administrative: confirm the work is completed safely, the excavation, plant and area are left in a safe condition, and the site is secured.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Fall-prevention controls for work at height, such as on bridges, retaining walls and structures.
Management of the bitumen, paints, solvents and fuels, including safety data sheets and exposure controls.
Atmospheric testing, entry permit, ventilation and rescue controls for entry into pits, drains, pipes and chambers.
The general construction work duties for the civil road work, including the SWMS and principal contractor duties.
The risk management process and hierarchy of controls applied to the hazards of the work.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
The work is carried out where there is a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres, which is high risk construction work requiring a SWMS before the work commences, with fall prevention.
The work is carried out in or near water with a risk of drowning, which is high risk construction work requiring a SWMS before the work commences, with water-safety controls.
This is civil construction work that, in the circumstances described, is high risk construction work — involving where there is a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres; in or near water or other liquid that involves a risk of drowning — so a SWMS must be prepared before the work commences, kept readily accessible, reviewed as necessary, and given to the principal contractor if one is appointed. The work is carried out in connection with the relevant construction, excavation, traffic, plant and other requirements, with the controls for the specific hazards applied. A failure in this work can cause a fatal trench collapse, traffic, plant, fall, gas or other serious injury, and breaches of the relevant legislation and the primary duty of care under the model WHS Act are actively enforced, with offence categories running from failure-to-comply through to reckless conduct, and the most serious breaches carrying imprisonment for individuals. Body-corporate maxima are substantial and indexed; the current maximum follows the prevailing schedule of the responsible regulator.
Who this is for
- →Bridge maintenance and painting crews.
- →Bridge maintenance and protective coatings contractors.
- →Civil maintenance and infrastructure businesses.
- →Road and transport authorities and PCBUs.
- →PCBU safety managers and supervisors coordinating the falls, water and surface-prep controls.
What you receive
- ✓Editable Microsoft Word document (.docx) fully compatible with Microsoft Word 2016 and newer, Google Docs, and LibreOffice Writer.
- ✓Title page with editable fields for PCBU name, ABN, site or project address, work description, principal contractor details, and document revision date.
- ✓Hazard register with the bridge maintenance and painting hazards — each with a documented consequence, inherent risk rating on a 5x5 likelihood-consequence matrix, hierarchy-of-control measures, and residual risk rating.
- ✓Bridge maintenance prompts referencing the falls and hazardous chemicals Codes of Practice, a work-at-height section, a work-over-water section, and a surface-prep and access record.
- ✓Licensing and competency prompts for the plant, traffic control, confined space and other work, and a plant pre-operational and inspection checklist where relevant.
- ✓Worker consultation record per the model WHS Act consultation duty and a worker sign-on register (blank, expandable).
- ✓Applicable legislation and Codes of Practice schedule pre-populated for the model WHS jurisdiction with a state-variance reference table covering the harmonised states, plus Victoria.
- ✓Emergency procedure template and a revision log.
Worked example
A maintenance crew is engaged to prepare and paint a bridge over a watercourse. Fall prevention is provided for the work at height accessing and working on the bridge — under-bridge access units, rope access or elevating work platforms, with a harness-based system where higher-order controls are not practicable. The work over water is controlled against drowning with edge protection, rescue equipment and life jackets. The surface preparation dust is controlled at the source with extraction and containment, with respiratory protection, recognising older coatings may contain hazardous materials such as lead, which are assessed and managed before disturbing them. The paint and solvent fumes are managed to the safety data sheets. Safe access to the structure is provided, and any under-deck confined access managed with the confined space controls where applicable. Falling objects are controlled, and where over a road the traffic managed. Because the work involves a fall risk more than 2 metres and is over water, a SWMS is prepared for the high risk construction work. The maintenance and painting are completed, and the records retained.
Related legislation
- Model Work Health and Safety Act — primary duty of care; the duty to consult workers; the reckless-conduct offence; and notifiable-incident provisions, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
- Model Work Health and Safety Regulations — the construction work, excavation, plant, traffic, confined spaces and falls provisions, and the Section 291 high risk construction work and SWMS duties, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
- The construction work, excavation work, confined spaces and falls Codes of Practice, the traffic management guidance, and the relevant standards such as AS 5100 for bridges and AS 4678 for retaining structures, are called up by the relevant safety legislation for the civil road work.
- Essential services information is obtained through Before You Dig Australia for underground assets and the Look Up and Live information for overhead assets before excavating; plant operation, traffic control and confined space work require the relevant licences, accreditations and competencies.
- Victoria operates under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, with the construction, excavation, plant and high risk construction work provisions applying in place of the model instruments.
Frequently asked questions
What makes bridge maintenance painting high risk construction work?
Bridge maintenance and painting involves a risk of a fall more than 2 metres and is over water with a drowning risk, both of which are high risk construction work requiring a SWMS before the work commences. The falls and the work over water are the defining high risk construction work triggers.
What is the hazard from older bridge coatings?
Older bridge coatings may contain hazardous materials such as lead, which present an exposure hazard during surface preparation, so they are assessed and managed before disturbing them, with the surface preparation dust controlled at the source with extraction and containment and respiratory protection. Assessing and managing older coatings controls the exposure hazard from surface preparation.
How is access to the structure managed?
Safe access to the structure is provided — under-bridge access units, rope access or elevating work platforms — and any under-deck confined and restricted access managed with the confined space controls where applicable. Providing safe access and managing the under-deck access controls the fall and entrapment hazards.
How is the work over water managed?
The work over water is controlled against drowning with edge protection, rescue equipment, life jackets and a person overboard procedure. Managing the work over water controls the drowning hazard in bridge maintenance and painting.
Who carries out bridge maintenance and painting?
Bridge maintenance and painting is carried out by competent maintenance crews in connection with the falls requirements, with the falls, water, surface-prep and access controls, and a SWMS for the high risk construction work. The maintenance and painting are carried out with the falls, water and surface preparation managed.