Hospitality & Food Service SWMS
Front-of-house food and beverage service in cafés, restaurants, function and catering venues — table service, glassware and crockery handling, hot-surface and hot-liquid work, lone and late-shift operation, and customer-conflict de-escalation.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Hospitality and food service work covers front-of-house service in cafés, restaurants, function and catering venues — table service, glassware and crockery handling, hot-surface and hot-liquid work near grills, ovens and espresso machines, and lone or late-shift operation. Workers face wet-floor slips, glass and crockery lacerations, scald and burn injuries, repetitive manual handling, fatigue from extended hours, and occasional customer-conflict de-escalation. WHS Act 2011 s19 requires PCBUs to provide a documented safe system of work for all hospitality operations.
Hazards identified
6 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Falls, fractures, back and head injuries
Deep cuts, tendon damage, infection
Partial- or full-thickness burns, scarring, eye injury from steam
Strains, shoulder and back musculoskeletal injury, RSI
Impaired judgement, increased incident and injury risk
Verbal abuse, threats, occasional physical assault, psychosocial harm
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Non-slip footwear mandatory at all service and kitchen positions; spill response within 60 seconds using wet-floor signage and absorbent cloths; daily floor inspection logged.
- 2Dedicated glass and crockery breakage bins; cut-resistant gloves for breakage clean-up; never hand-wash chipped or cracked vessels; safe-knife technique training.
- 3Heat-resistant mitts and aprons for hot-surface work; espresso steam-wand purge protocol; grill and oven door cool-down before service handover; first-aid burn kit at every cooking station.
- 4Carrying weights kept below 5 kg per tray for two-handed service; trolleys for restocking and bulk plate movement; rostered task rotation to limit sustained repetitive load.
- 5Rostered breaks every 4 hours; maximum 10-hour shifts; fatigue-management policy under WHS Reg r55; back-to-back close-then-open shifts prohibited.
- 6De-escalation training for all front-of-house staff; lone-worker check-ins by supervisor every hour after 21:00; CCTV at customer-facing posts; clear EAP and incident-reporting pathway for psychosocial harm.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Floor surfaces, lighting and amenities for hospitality venues
Tray, plate, stock and crockery handling; espresso machine reloading
Customer conflict, abuse and lone-working psychosocial risk
What you receive
- ✓Editable DOCX SWMS template — fully customisable for your café, restaurant, function or catering venue
- ✓State-specific legislation schedule covering all 8 Australian jurisdictions
- ✓Hazard register with risk matrix and control hierarchy
- ✓Worker sign-on register for SWMS consultation evidence
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 s19 — Primary duty of care
- WHS Regulation 2011 r39-49 — Consultation and risk management
- Food Act 2003 (state-specific) — Hygiene and handling