Land Clearing & Vegetation Removal SWMS
Land clearing and vegetation removal covers bulldozer and excavator use for tree removal, mulcher and chipper integration, snake and fauna controls, fire-mitigation work, and council/EPA compliance for biodiversity-controlled sites.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Land clearing and vegetation removal involves the controlled felling, mulching and disposal of trees, scrub and undergrowth using bulldozers, excavators with tree-shears or grapples, brush-cutters, chainsaws and high-speed chippers. The work is routinely conducted on bushfire mitigation corridors, subdivision pads, road reserves, easements and biodiversity-offset sites under council and EPA conditions. Because the activity involves powered mobile plant operating near workers, high-speed rotating cutting components, falling timber, and frequently disturbed snakes and fauna, it is classified as High Risk Construction Work under WHS Regulation 2025 Schedule 1. A documented Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory before work commences and must be available at the workplace, signed by every worker, and reviewed whenever method, plant or site conditions change. This SWMS structures the hazard identification, control hierarchy and supervision arrangements required to discharge the PCBU's primary duty of care under section 19 of the WHS Act.
Hazards identified
7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Crush injuries, traumatic brain injury or fatality from unpredicted trunk failure or springback within the felling zone
Operator crush fatality, spinal injury or entrapment requiring extended rescue from overturned dozer or excavator
Catastrophic limb amputation, degloving or fatality from operator drawn into rotating drum or disc
Severe lacerations to face, neck or femoral artery causing exsanguination before paramedic arrival
Anaphylaxis, neurotoxic envenomation or cardiac arrest if antivenom and first aid response is delayed
Penetrating eye injury, facial fractures or vehicle window strikes injuring bystanders within discharge arc
Uncontrolled grassfire, prosecution under state fire legislation and worker burns or asphyxiation entrapment
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination — Where biodiversity offset allows, retain vegetation in situ and reroute access tracks to remove the felling task entirely from scope.
- 2Elimination — Prohibit any worker on foot within two tree-lengths of active felling or within the chipper discharge arc during operation.
- 3Substitution — Substitute manual chainsaw felling with excavator-mounted tree shear or grapple-saw where stem diameter and reach permit safer mechanised removal.
- 4Substitution — Replace open-flame pile burning with cold mulching and offsite green-waste haulage to remove ignition risk on Total Fire Ban days.
- 5Engineering — Operate plant fitted with certified ROPS, FOPS and OPS cabins compliant with AS 2294 and forestry guarding rated for falling-object impact.
- 6Engineering — Use chippers with anti-kickback in-feed bars, last-chance stop cables and bottom feed-roller reversers compliant with AS/NZS 4014.4.
- 7Administrative — Conduct documented pre-start tree assessment for lean, hazard limbs, hollows and fauna habitat, with exclusion zones marked by bunting and spotter.
- 8Administrative — Implement Fire Danger Rating stand-down triggers, hourly hot-works watch, and 30-minute post-shutdown inspection under AS 1674.1.
- 9PPE — Type C cut-resistant chainsaw trousers, helmet with mesh visor and earmuffs to AS/NZS 1801, gloves, hi-vis and steel-cap boots to AS/NZS 2210.3.
- 10PPE — Snake gaiters rated to AS/NZS protective standards, compression bandages on every operator, and impact eye protection to AS/NZS 1337.1 when chipping.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Sets the inspection, guarding, isolation and operator competency duties for bulldozers, excavators and chippers used in clearing.
Defines felling techniques, escape routes, hinge wood sizing and limb-up procedures that the SWMS controls must mirror in practice.
Establishes the minimum competency tickets required for fallers and plant operators before they can be assigned to the task.
Triggers heat stress, drinking water, shade and amenities duties for remote clearing crews working extended cycles in summer.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Bulldozers, excavators and skid-steer mulchers operate continuously alongside ground crews, satisfying the Schedule 1 trigger for powered mobile plant in a construction zone.
Chippers, mulcher drums, flail heads and chainsaws rotate at speeds capable of catastrophic entanglement or projectile injury, meeting the high-speed cutting criterion.
PCBU must prepare, consult workers on, and retain the SWMS for at least two years (or duration of any notifiable incident investigation); breach penalties are substantial and indexed, with the current maximum following the prevailing WHS schedule.
Who this is for
- →Land clearing contractors on subdivision and infrastructure sites
- →Council bushfire mitigation and asset protection crews
- →Civil principal contractors managing vegetation subcontractors
- →Arboriculture and forestry operators running mechanised felling
What you receive
- ✓Editable DOCX template — Microsoft Word compatible
- ✓State-specific WHS legislation schedule (NSW/VIC/QLD/SA/WA/TAS/NT/ACT)
- ✓Hazard register with risk ratings + hierarchy-of-control mapping
- ✓Worker sign-on register, pre-start checklist, and incident escalation flow
Worked example
On a 14-hectare bushfire asset protection zone clearance for a regional council, the site supervisor opens the pre-start brief at the laydown area with five workers: two chainsaw fallers, an excavator operator with grapple saw, a chipper feeder and a traffic controller. The supervisor walks through this SWMS page by page on a ruggedised tablet. Reviewing the hazard register, the crew identifies that overnight wind has left several hung-up limbs in a stringybark stand flagged on the previous shift — the felling control requiring a two tree-length exclusion zone and mechanised takedown by the grapple saw is selected over manual felling. The fauna control prompts a habitat sweep, and a brushtail possum hollow is found, triggering a stop-work and call to the licensed wildlife handler listed in the emergency contacts. Each worker signs the sign-on register against the controls they are responsible for, including the chipper feeder confirming the last-chance cable has been function-tested that morning. Mid-shift, the Fire Danger Rating escalates to Extreme on the Bureau feed; the supervisor returns to the SWMS, applies the documented stand-down trigger, shuts down hot works, and records the deviation and 30-minute fire watch in the variations log before the crew stands down to the muster point.
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 (model)
- WHS Regulation 2025
- AS 2550 — Cranes, hoists and winches; AS 1418 series