Jump-Form / Slip-Form Concrete Construction SWMS

Jump-form and slip-form concrete construction is the continuous or staged vertical pouring methodology used to construct high-rise cores, lift shafts, stair towers and silos. The system relies on hydraulically climbing or continuously moving formwork platforms suspended at significant heights, where workers place reinforcement, pour concrete, and operate jacking systems often above 30 metres. Under WHS Regulation 2011 r291, this work falls within multiple High Risk Construction Work categories simultaneously — work at height above two metres, work on or near structural alterations requiring temporary support, and work involving pressurised hydraulic plant. A Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory before this work commences, must be developed in consultation with workers performing the task, and must be readily available for inspection by the regulator. This SWMS template provides the structured hazard identification, hierarchy-of-control documentation, and sign-on framework required for compliant jump-form and slip-form operations across all eight Australian jurisdictions.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

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

1. 1Elimination — Where feasible, substitute jump-form with precast core panels manufactured off-site to remove the climbing form hazard exposure entirely at height.
2. 2Elimination — Eliminate manual form stripping at height by specifying self-climbing hydraulic systems with integrated platform decks and no external scaffold dependency.
3. 3Substitution — Substitute open-edge timber working decks with engineered steel mesh platforms incorporating compliant guardrails per AS/NZS 4994.1 perimeter protection requirements.
4. 4Substitution — Replace traditional snap-tie wall anchors with proprietary engineered climbing cones load-tested and certified by the form supplier's structural engineer.
5. 5Engineering — Install certified hydraulic jacking systems with independent fail-safe locking pawls, pressure relief valves, and synchronised climb monitoring across all jacking points.
6. 6Engineering — Provide fully decked upper, working and lower platforms with toe boards, kickplates and debris netting to capture dropped objects and tools.
7. 7Administrative — Conduct daily pre-climb inspection by a competent rigger including anchor cone torque check, hydraulic pressure verification, and weather monitoring against design wind speed limits.
8. 8Administrative — Restrict climbing operations to nominated competent crews, exclude all non-essential personnel, and establish ground-level exclusion zones with spotters during every climb cycle.
9. 9PPE — Issue full-body harnesses with twin shock-absorbing lanyards anchored to certified platform attachment points compliant with AS/NZS 1891.1 fall arrest standards.
10. 10PPE — Provide alkali-resistant gloves, sealed safety eyewear, hard hats with chinstraps, high-visibility clothing and steel-capped boots for all platform workers.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

On a 28-storey residential core project in a metropolitan CBD, the formwork supervisor uses this SWMS at the 6:30am pre-start brief on the morning of climb cycle 14. The crew of six gathers on the upper deck while the supervisor walks through each documented hazard against the actual conditions: forecast wind is 32 km/h gusting 45, which the SWMS hydraulic operating envelope caps at 40 km/h sustained. The team identifies that the planned 9:00am climb must shift to 11:00am once wind drops, and the supervisor annotates the SWMS daily review section accordingly. Hazard four — wet concrete contact — is reinforced because a new labourer is joining the pour team; the supervisor confirms his alkali-resistant gloves and sealed eyewear before sign-on. Each worker signs the SWMS register acknowledging the controls, with the new labourer countersigned by his trade supervisor. Mid-morning, the rigger conducting the pre-climb anchor cone torque check finds one cone reading below the 180 Nm threshold specified in the engineering control. He stops work, the supervisor consults the SWMS escalation pathway, the form engineer is called to site, and the cone is replaced before climb authorisation is granted. The SWMS amendment is logged, the crew is re-briefed on the revised sequence, and signatures are recaptured before the rescheduled climb proceeds safely at 12:15pm.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces CoP

Frequently asked questions