Post & Beam Framing SWMS

Post and beam framing involves the erection of heavy vertical posts and horizontal beams — typically LVL, glulam or hardwood — to form the primary load path of a structure. Work includes measuring and cutting oversized members, lifting them into position (often by crane, telehandler or multiple workers), plumbing posts, seating beams into brackets or notches, and fixing with bolts, straps and proprietary connectors. Because the frame is incomplete during erection, members are inherently unstable until fully braced, and workers routinely operate from ladders, trestles, mobile scaffolds or partially decked floors at height. The combination of heavy suspended loads, unstable geometry, work at height and repeated manual handling of long members makes this one of the higher-risk carpentry activities on residential and light-commercial sites.

Under the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), post and beam framing is high risk construction work under section 291(a) where there is a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres, and under section 291(e) where the work involves structural alteration requiring temporary support. Section 299 requires a Safe Work Method Statement to be prepared before the work commences, and the controls must follow the hierarchy in section 36 — eliminate the risk so far as is reasonably practicable, and otherwise minimise it through substitution, isolation, engineering, administration 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 where practicable by pre-assembling post-and-beam bays at ground level and lifting the completed bay into position as a single braced unit.
2. 2Substitute heavy solid timbers with lighter engineered alternatives (e.g. LVL in place of hardwood) where structural design permits, to reduce manual handling loads.
3. 3Design and install a documented temporary bracing scheme — including raking props, cross-bracing and top-plate ties — signed off by a competent person before any load is released from the crane or telehandler, in accordance with AS 3610 for temporary works principles.
4. 4Provide edge protection to floors, mezzanines and platforms in accordance with AS/NZS 4994.1, or install a mobile scaffold compliant with AS/NZS 1576.1 rather than working from ladders where fall exposure exceeds 2 m.
5. 5Where edge protection is not reasonably practicable, use a travel-restraint or fall-arrest system compliant with AS/NZS 1891.1 anchored to an engineered anchor point, with a documented rescue plan.
6. 6Plan all crane and telehandler lifts with a lift study identifying exclusion zones, tag lines, and taglines under the control of a dogger holding a DG licence; mobile crane operator to hold the relevant HRW licence (C2/C6/CN/CO/C1).
7. 7Maintain a minimum 6.4 m clearance from overhead powerlines or arrange for lines to be de-energised or tiger-tailed through Ausgrid/Essential Energy in accordance with the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice: Work near overhead and underground electric lines.
8. 8Control silica and wood dust at source using on-tool water suppression or M/H-class dust extraction compliant with AS/NZS 60335.2.69, and enforce respiratory protection selected under AS/NZS 1715 and 1716; comply with the workplace exposure standard for RCS of 0.05 mg/m³ (8-hour TWA).
9. 9Before altering any pre-1990 structure, review the asbestos register and, where ACM is present or suspected, engage a licensed asbestos removalist under Chapter 8 of the WHS Regulation 2025 (NSW).
10. 10Use nail guns fitted with sequential trip triggers only, and enforce a no-hand-forward rule; guard circular saws in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and AS/NZS 60745.
11. 11Provide task-specific PPE: AS/NZS 1801 hard hat, AS/NZS 1337.1 safety eyewear, AS/NZS 2210.3 safety footwear, AS/NZS 1800 hearing protection when cutting, and AS/NZS 4501 high-visibility clothing.
12. 12All workers to hold CPCCWHS1001 (White Card); 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 builder in Kellyville is constructing a two-storey addition with an exposed LVL post and beam verandah spanning 6.4 m. Beams weigh approximately 180 kg each and must be set 3.2 m above the finished slab. The framing crew pre-assembles each bay on the slab, installs raking props and cross-bracing to a scheme signed off by the project engineer, then uses a 3-tonne franna operated by a licensed dogger to lift the braced bay into position. Workers set the connections from a mobile scaffold compliant with AS/NZS 1576.1 rather than ladders. Overhead 11 kV Ausgrid lines run parallel to the site — the lift study confirms the boom cannot approach within 6.4 m. The SWMS is signed by the four-person crew before work starts and re-signed after a mid-week design change increased the beam length on the western bay.

Related legislation

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) — sections 19, 31, 32, 47
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) — sections 36, 78, 291, 299, 302
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) Chapter 4 — Hazardous work (falls, plant, hazardous chemicals)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) Chapter 8 — Asbestos
• Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) — construction certificate and structural adequacy
• Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) — licensing of structural carpentry work

Frequently asked questions