Cable Tray & Conduit Installation SWMS

Cable tray and conduit installation involves the fabrication, support and routing of metallic and non-metallic containment systems to carry power, control and communications cabling throughout commercial, industrial and infrastructure projects. The work routinely combines elevated installation from EWPs, scissor lifts, scaffolds and ladders with power tool use, hot cutting, threading, bending and pulling of heavy trays and conduits — often in ceiling voids, risers, plant rooms and above live switchboards. Fall from height, electrical contact with existing energised services, manual handling injury from awkward overhead lifts, and lacerations from sharp tray edges are the dominant causes of harm.

Under the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), this work is High Risk Construction Work under section 291 where a person could fall more than 2 metres (291(a)) and where work is carried out on or near energised electrical installations or services (291(k)). Section 299 requires a Safe Work Method Statement to be prepared before the work commences, kept accessible, and complied with. Controls follow the hierarchy — eliminate exposure via prefabrication and de-energisation, engineer with EWPs and edge protection, and only then rely on administrative measures and PPE.

Hazards identified

12 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

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

1. 1Eliminate work at height by prefabricating tray runs, brackets and conduit assemblies at ground level and lifting completed sections into position with mechanical aids.
2. 2De-energise, isolate, test-for-dead, tag and lock out all adjacent electrical installations before commencing work within safe approach distances; where isolation is not reasonably practicable, engage a competent person to establish live-work controls under AS/NZS 4836.
3. 3Use scan-and-locate techniques (electromagnetic locator and GPR where required) and review as-built drawings before penetrating slabs, walls or ceilings; mark and avoid identified services.
4. 4Provide engineered fall prevention as the primary height control — EWPs (scissor and boom lifts) selected per AS 2550.10, mobile scaffolds erected to AS/NZS 1576 with fully planked platforms, or fixed edge protection to AS/NZS 4994.1.
5. 5Where fall prevention is not reasonably practicable, use travel-restraint or fall-arrest systems compliant with AS/NZS 1891 series, anchored to engineered points, with a documented rescue plan.
6. 6Establish exclusion zones beneath overhead work using hard barricades and signage; tether tools at height and use catch nets, kick boards or tool lanyards to control dropped objects.
7. 7Control silica dust using on-tool water suppression or H-class LEV extraction on rotary hammers and grinders, in accordance with the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice for managing the risks of respirable crystalline silica from engineered stone; supply P2/P3 RPE fit-tested to AS/NZS 1715.
8. 8Before disturbing any pre-2004 building fabric, review the asbestos register and engage a licensed asbestos removalist where ACM is present; comply with Chapter 8 of the WHS Regulation 2025 (NSW).
9. 9Implement a hot work permit for any grinding, cutting or thermal work — remove combustibles within 10 m, provide a charged extinguisher and a fire watch for 60 minutes after work ceases.
10. 10Provide task-specific PPE: cut-resistant gloves (AS/NZS 2161.3), safety eyewear (AS/NZS 1337.1), hearing protection (AS/NZS 1270), safety footwear (AS/NZS 2210.3) and arc-rated clothing where residual electrical risk remains.
11. 11Rotate operatives on sustained overhead work, provide mechanical lifting aids (tray dollies, material lifts) and limit continuous ladder use; conduct daily pre-start briefings and toolbox talks addressing the day's specific hazards.
12. 12All workers to hold a current White Card (CPCCWHS1001) and relevant electrical licences; the SWMS is to be developed in consultation with workers under section 47 of the WHS Act 2011 (NSW), signed by all persons doing the work, and reviewed under section 302 of the WHS Regulation 2025 (NSW) whenever controls are revised, an incident occurs, or the work method changes.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

A tier-2 electrical contractor is installing 600 mm perforated cable tray across the level 3 ceiling void of a commercial refurbishment in Parramatta. The tray runs 40 metres above an occupied tenancy and terminates at a live main switchboard that cannot be de-energised during business hours. Workers access the void from scissor lifts at 3.2 m platform height. Before starting, the site supervisor confirms the SWMS has been signed by both electricians and the apprentice, an exclusion zone is barricaded below, and the switchboard's incoming feeder within 500 mm of the new tray termination has been isolated and locked out under an isolation permit. Concrete anchors for tray brackets are installed using a rotary hammer fitted with on-tool water suppression and H-class extraction to control silica. A hot work permit is issued for grinding tray to length. At completion the SWMS review log is updated to reflect an additional control introduced after a near-miss with a dropped coupler on day two.

Related legislation

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW)
• Electricity Supply Act 1995 (NSW)
• Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act 2004 (NSW)
• Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) — where residential electrical work applies
• Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) — construction noise and waste

Frequently asked questions