Childcare Soft-Fall, Anti-Trap & Fencing SWMS

Childcare soft-fall, anti-trap and fencing installation is the work that installs outdoor play equipment, impact-attenuating soft-fall surfacing, anti-trap detailing and boundary fencing to AS 4685 and AS 4422, including footings, shade structures and gates. The dominant hazards are falls installing play structures, shade sails and high components, musculoskeletal and struck-by injury lifting and setting heavy equipment and posts, a failure to achieve the impact-attenuating surfacing depth or free-height-of-fall compliance that creates a later child-injury risk, entrapment gaps not closed to AS 4685 that create a later child-entrapment risk, and concrete and post-hole hazards in the footings. This SWMS covers the equipment, surfacing, anti-trap detailing and fencing installation; it does not cover the playground design, the service's regulatory approval, or the soil and drainage design, which are documented separately.

Under the model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and the harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations adopted in each state and territory, this is high risk construction work because it is carried out where a person can fall more than two metres installing play structures and shade sails, and because cutting and forming footings creates an area requiring respiratory protection from respirable crystalline silica; Victoria operates the equivalent provisions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017. Playground structural integrity, entrapment limits, no-go zones and fall zones follow AS 4685, with AS 4685.0 for installation, inspection and maintenance, and impact-attenuating surfacing follows AS 4422 for the critical fall height and installed depth.

Failure to meet the primary duty of care is prosecuted under the Category 1 to 3 offences in the Work Health and Safety Act (and the equivalent provisions in Victoria's Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004), with maximum penalties indexed in most jurisdictions, imprisonment available for individuals, and a separate industrial manslaughter offence; current figures follow the prevailing penalty schedule of the responsible state regulator. This document is structured to satisfy the safe work method statement content requirements of the harmonised regulations and documents a controlled installation and verification.

Hazards identified

9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.

1. 1Engineering: Use an elevating work platform, scaffold or a rated ladder for the task with edge protection installing play structures and shade sails, with a fall-arrest harness where a residual fall risk remains.
2. 2Engineering: Use mechanical aids for heavy equipment, posts and surfacing, with multi-person handling; wear gloves and footwear.
3. 3Engineering: Use a controlled lift and temporary props until equipment and posts are fixed, with an exclusion; wear a hard hat.
4. 4Engineering: Install surfacing to AS 4422 for the equipment's free height of fall, including the specified installed depth, and verify before use.
5. 5Engineering: Install to the anti-trap gap limits and no-go zones in AS 4685, and check with the test gauges before use.
6. 6Elimination: Locate services first, barricade open holes, use on-tool dust extraction and respirable-crystalline-silica controls; wear a P2 respirator.
7. 7Engineering: Deburr equipment and fixings and handle safely; wear cut-resistant gloves.
8. 8Administrative: Provide shade where possible, with sun protection, hydration and scheduling; wear a hat and sunscreen.
9. 9Engineering: Keep access clear with housekeeping; wear safety footwear.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

A landscaping contractor is installing a childcare outdoor play area: play structures and shade sails, impact-attenuating soft-fall surfacing, anti-trap detailing and boundary fencing with footings and gates, to AS 4685 and AS 4422. The work is high risk construction work because it is carried out at a height where a person can fall more than two metres installing play structures and shade sails, and it is also work in an area requiring respiratory protection from respirable crystalline silica when cutting and forming footings, so the contractor builds the safe work method statement around work at height, the surfacing and entrapment requirements, and the footings. High components are installed from an elevating work platform, scaffold or a rated ladder for the task with edge protection, the heavy equipment, posts and surfacing are handled with mechanical aids and multi-person handling, and equipment and posts are set with a controlled lift and temporary props until fixed, with an exclusion zone. Two controls protect the children who will use the area: the soft-fall surfacing is installed to AS 4422 for the equipment's free height of fall, including the specified installed depth, and verified before use, and the anti-trap gaps and no-go zones are installed to the limits in AS 4685 and checked with the test gauges before use, because surfacing that is too shallow or a gap that traps a head, neck or finger would create a later child-injury or entrapment risk. Footings are dug only after services are located, open holes are barricaded, and concrete cutting uses on-tool dust extraction and respirable-crystalline-silica controls with a P2 respirator. Working outdoors, shade, sun protection, hydration and scheduling manage ultraviolet radiation and heat, and cuts are controlled with deburring and cut-resistant gloves. Workers sign on to the statement before starting, the surfacing-depth and gap-gauge verification records are kept, and the signed statement is held on site for the responsible state regulator.

Related legislation

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (harmonised; enacted in all states and territories except Victoria, which applies the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004), s.19 — Primary duty of care to workers and to other persons at or near the workplace
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, section 291 — Defines high risk construction work (Victoria: Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, Part 5.1)
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, section 299 — Content and review requirements for a safe work method statement for high risk construction work (Victoria: regulation 327; Tasmania: regulation 312)
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, Part 4.4 — Managing the risk of falls (work above two metres; Victoria applies the equivalent provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017)
• AS 4685 and AS 4422, with the Education and Care Services National Regulations — Playground structural integrity, entrapment limits, fall zones and impact-attenuating surfacing for the outdoor environment

Frequently asked questions