Construction Surveying SWMS

Construction surveying on active civil and building sites places surveyors and chainpersons directly within the operational footprint of earthmoving plant, live traffic corridors, excavations and laser-emitting instruments. Set-out and as-built tasks require workers to occupy the same ground as excavators, dozers, graders and haul trucks while concentrating on a staff, prism pole or instrument viewfinder — significantly degrading situational awareness. WHS Regulation 2025 classifies this work as high risk construction work under multiple section 291 triggers, including work in the vicinity of powered mobile plant and work on or adjacent to roadways used by traffic. A Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory under regulation 299 before any survey work commences, must be developed in consultation with workers under regulation 47, and must be available for inspection at the workplace. This SWMS addresses the integrated hazard profile of modern surveying — total stations, GPS rovers, rotating and pipe lasers, and traditional staff-and-tape methods — used on slopes, embankments and trafficked corridors.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

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

1. 1Elimination — Replace conventional staff-and-prism set-out with machine control GPS and 3D model upload to plant, removing the surveyor from the active plant working zone entirely.
2. 2Elimination — Schedule survey occupation of trafficked corridors during full road closures or planned shutdown windows rather than under live traffic management.
3. 3Substitution — Substitute Class 3R rotating lasers with Class 2 or Class 1 instruments wherever accuracy permits, in accordance with ARPANSA RPS S-1 and AS/NZS IEC 60825.1.
4. 4Substitution — Replace aluminium survey poles and tripods with fibreglass or insulated alternatives when working within 6.4 metres of overhead electrical conductors.
5. 5Engineering — Establish positive exclusion zones around plant using spotter-enforced 6 metre buffer, plant proximity alarms and two-way radio link between surveyor and operator before entry.
6. 6Engineering — Deploy compliant traffic management plan with physical barriers, variable message signs and water-filled barriers per AS 1742.3 prior to any roadway occupation.
7. 7Administrative — Conduct documented pre-start briefing using this SWMS, confirm laser class and hazard distance calculation, and register all laser instruments in the site laser inventory.
8. 8Administrative — Enforce maximum 90-minute continuous observation rotations with hydration breaks during high UV/heat days, monitored against BoM forecast and site heat stress procedure.
9. 9PPE — Wear AS/NZS 1337.1 laser safety eyewear matched to instrument wavelength when within nominal ocular hazard distance, plus AS/NZS 4602.1 Class D/N high-visibility garments.
10. 10PPE — Wear AS/NZS 2210.3 safety footwear with ankle support for batter work, AS/NZS 1801 hard hat, broad-brim attachment, SPF50+ sunscreen and cut-resistant gloves for picket handling.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

On a regional highway widening project, a survey crew is tasked with pegging out a 600 metre kerb realignment adjacent to a live two-lane carriageway carrying 80 km/h traffic. At the 6:30am pre-start, the site engineer opens this SWMS on a tablet and walks the two-person crew through the hazard register. The chainperson identifies that today's task triggers both the powered mobile plant hazard (a grader is trimming subgrade 40 metres ahead) and the live traffic hazard. Referencing the controls section, the team confirms the traffic management subcontractor has installed the AS 1742.3 lateral safety zone with water-filled barriers, and that radio channel 8 is established with the grader operator for a 6 metre exclusion buffer. The surveyor notes the rotating laser being used is Class 3R, retrieves matched laser safety eyewear from the vehicle and verifies the wavelength label. Both workers sign the SWMS register on the tablet. Mid-morning, a fuel truck arrives to refuel the grader inside the planned set-out zone — the chainperson invokes the stop-work provision noted in the SWMS, retreats behind the barrier line, and only resumes once the grader operator confirms via radio that refuelling is complete and the slew zone is clear. The adjustment is logged as a SWMS variation note before close of shift.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• AS 2550 — Cranes, hoists and winches; AS 1418 series

Frequently asked questions