Chain Link / Chainmesh Fencing SWMS

Chain link (chainmesh) fencing installation involves driving or concreting steel line posts, tensioning heavy wire mesh rolls, and installing top rails, tie wires and gates around perimeters, sports grounds, industrial yards and construction sites. The work routinely combines mobile plant (post drivers, augers, mini-excavators, skid steers and delivery trucks with HIAB cranes) with manual handling of awkward, spring-loaded mesh rolls that can weigh 40–80 kg. Workers face crush and traffic risks from powered mobile plant, laceration from cut mesh ends, strain injuries from tensioning, underground services strikes when boring post holes, and silica exposure when cutting or coring concrete footings.

Under the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), fencing that involves powered mobile plant is high risk construction work under section 291(o). Section 299 requires a Safe Work Method Statement to be prepared before the work commences, and section 300 requires the work to be performed in accordance with it. Controls must follow the hierarchy in section 36, with elimination and engineering (exclusion zones, spotters, mechanical lifting aids) prioritised over 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 underground service strikes by obtaining Before You Dig Australia (BYDA/Dial Before You Dig) plans, hand-proving with non-conductive tools within 500 mm of any indicated service, and marking out all services before any powered auger or post driver enters the work area.
2. 2Substitute dry cutting with wet-cut concrete saws or on-tool water suppression and H-class HEPA vacuum extraction to control respirable crystalline silica in accordance with the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice for Managing the risks of respirable crystalline silica from engineered stone in the workplace and the workplace exposure standard of 0.05 mg/m³ (8-hr TWA).
3. 3Establish a documented 3 m minimum exclusion zone around all operating powered mobile plant with physical barriers, high-visibility bunting and a dedicated spotter in radio contact with the operator; no worker enters the zone until plant is isolated and the operator has confirmed acknowledgement.
4. 4Maintain minimum safe approach distances from overhead powerlines in accordance with SafeWork NSW Code of Practice: Work near overhead and underground electric lines, and engage the network operator for tiger tails or de-energisation where distances cannot be maintained.
5. 5Use mechanical aids (mesh roll dispensers, post trolleys, HIAB or telehandler with fabric slings) for handling mesh rolls over 25 kg and posts over 3 m, in line with the Code of Practice: Hazardous manual tasks.
6. 6Control mesh tensioning with rated straining wire, load-rated ratchet tensioners and turnbuckles inspected before each use; keep all workers out of the recoil arc and wear impact-rated eye protection (AS/NZS 1337.1) during tensioning.
7. 7Implement a traffic management plan compliant with AS 1742.3 and the Traffic Control at Worksites Technical Manual (Transport for NSW), including physical separation, speed reduction, and accredited traffic controllers where fencing borders live carriageways.
8. 8Where asbestos is suspected in soils or existing footings, stop work and engage a licensed asbestos assessor; manage in accordance with the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice: How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace and sections 419–432 of the WHS Regulation 2025 (NSW).
9. 9Provide UV and heat stress controls: shaded rest areas, potable water at a minimum 1 L/hr per worker, work-rest cycles adjusted to WBGT, and long-sleeve UPF 50+ clothing in line with Sun Safety guidance from Cancer Council NSW.
10. 10Issue and enforce task-specific PPE: AS/NZS 2210.3 safety footwear, AS/NZS 1800/1801 hard hats where overhead risk exists, AS/NZS 1337.1 medium-impact eye protection, cut-resistant gloves (EN 388 minimum level C), AS/NZS 1270 Class 5 hearing protection when operating petrol drivers, and P2 respirators (AS/NZS 1716) for silica-generating tasks with fit-testing to AS/NZS 1715.
11. 11Verify every worker holds a General Construction Induction Card (White Card, CPCCWHS1001) and high risk work licences relevant to any plant operated; consult the SWMS with workers under section 47 of the WHS Act 2011 (NSW) before work starts and review it under section 302 of the WHS Regulation 2025 (NSW) whenever controls change, an incident occurs, or the work method is altered.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

A fencing subcontractor is engaged to install 420 m of 2.4 m chainmesh security fencing around a new logistics warehouse yard in Erskine Park, western Sydney. The scope includes auger-drilled concrete footings for 76 line posts, three cantilever sliding gates and razor-tape topping. Before mobilisation, the site supervisor lodges a BYDA plan, identifies a Jemena gas main tracking the eastern boundary, and marks a 1.5 m no-mechanical-dig corridor requiring hand potholing. A SWMS is prepared under section 299 nominating the skid-steer auger and truck-mounted post driver as powered mobile plant triggering section 291(o). A 3 m plant exclusion zone with a dedicated spotter is established, on-tool water suppression is used for saw-cutting the gate track slab to control silica, and mesh rolls are handled with a telehandler-mounted spreader bar. Two weeks in, an operator repositions the auger without acknowledging the spotter — work is stopped, the SWMS is reviewed under section 302, radio call-and-response is formalised, and the crew is re-inducted before work resumes.

Related legislation

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW)
• Electricity Supply (Safety and Network Management) Regulation 2014 (NSW)
• Roads Act 1993 (NSW) — for road-adjacent works and road occupancy licensing
• Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) — dust, noise and waste
• Public Health Act 2010 (NSW) — where fencing intersects with drinking water or public land

Frequently asked questions