Lead-Lined Radiation Shielding Install SWMS

Lead-lined radiation shielding installation is the fit-out trade that lines a diagnostic imaging, dental imaging, nuclear medicine or radiotherapy room to its documented radiation shielding assessment: fixing lead-lined plasterboard and lead sheet to walls and soffits, glazing lead-glass viewing panels, and lining doors, frames and service penetrations. The dominant hazards are inhalation and ingestion of lead dust and fume from cutting and grinding lead, falls while lining at height above two metres, and musculoskeletal injury handling heavy lead sheet, lead-lined board and lead-glass. This SWMS scopes the shielding installation as a whole; it does not cover the radiation shielding assessment itself, the supply or commissioning of the imaging or radiotherapy equipment, or any work involving an active radiation source, and no radiation source is present during this fit-out work.

Under the model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and the harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations adopted in each state and territory, this is high risk construction work, both because lining at height carries a risk of a fall of more than two metres and because cutting and grinding lead creates an atmosphere requiring respiratory protection; the harmonised regulations define high risk construction work at section 291 and require a safe work method statement at section 299, while Victoria operates the equivalent provisions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017. The primary duty of care applies to workers and to other persons in the building. Inorganic lead carries an Australian workplace exposure standard of 0.05 mg/m³ as an eight-hour time-weighted average, and health monitoring is mandatory for lead-risk work, with a blood-lead action level of 20 µg/dL at which a worker is removed from lead-risk work pending medical review. The relevant state Radiation Control Act regulates the facility and its apparatus, and the shielding must be installed to the assessment prepared by a qualified expert; AS/NZS 1716 governs respiratory protective equipment and the Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice applies to handling heavy lead.

Failure to meet the primary duty of care is prosecuted under the Category 1 to 3 offences in the Work Health and Safety Act (and the equivalent provisions in Victoria's Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004), with maximum penalties indexed in most jurisdictions, reaching into the millions of dollars for a body corporate at the most serious category, imprisonment available for individuals, and a separate industrial manslaughter offence; current figures follow the prevailing penalty schedule of the responsible state regulator. This document is structured to satisfy the safe work method statement content requirements of the harmonised regulations (section 299; Victoria's equivalent under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017) and documents a lead-safe system of work for the installation.

Hazards identified

10 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

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

1. 1Engineering: Order lead pre-cut to size, replace power-grinding with scoring and snips, and use on-tool H-class dust extraction or wet methods with on-site hygiene facilities.
2. 2Engineering: Pre-assemble shielded panels at low level where practicable, and provide a scaffold or elevating work platform with edge protection and a stable working platform for lining at height.
3. 3Elimination: Locate and isolate concealed services before fixing, confirm de-energisation with a cable scanner, and work to a permit with dimensional control of fixing depths.
4. 4Engineering: Use mechanical lifting aids and panel lifters, apply two-person handling and a 25 kg single-person limit, and follow the Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice.
5. 5Administrative: Provide separate change and wash facilities, require decontamination on leaving the area, launder PPE on site, and prohibit taking contaminated PPE home.
6. 6Engineering: Use on-tool water suppression or H-class extraction when cutting masonry, and monitor air against the respirable crystalline silica exposure standard of 0.05 mg/m³.
7. 7Engineering: Use glazing frames and mechanical aids for lead-glass panels, with two-person handling and an exclusion zone below.
8. 8Engineering: Fit toe-boards and debris containment to the working platform, set an exclusion zone below, and secure tools with lanyards.
9. 9PPE: Deburr and protect cut edges, handle sheet with care, and wear cut-resistant gloves.
10. 10Administrative: Stage deliveries, provide waste bins, and maintain housekeeping and clear access in the room.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

A fit-out contractor is lining a new CT imaging room in a private hospital in a major capital city, building to the radiation shielding assessment prepared for the room by a qualified expert. The work is high risk construction work, because lead-lined board and sheet are fixed to walls and a soffit above two metres and because cutting and grinding the lead creates lead dust, so the supervisor builds the safe work method statement around lead-dust control, work at height and the duty to other persons in the occupied hospital. Lead is ordered pre-cut to the assessment dimensions to minimise on-site cutting; where trimming is unavoidable, scoring and snips replace power-grinding, and the few powered cuts are made with on-tool H-class extraction and wet methods rather than dry grinding. Every installer is enrolled in health monitoring before lead work begins, with baseline blood-lead testing and a repeat at one month, and air is monitored against the 0.05 mg/m³ inorganic lead exposure standard; a worker reaching the 20 µg/dL action level is removed from lead-risk work pending medical review. A mobile scaffold with edge protection gives a stable platform for the soffit lining, concealed services are located and isolated before any fixing, and panel lifters and two-person handling move the heavy lead sheet and lead-glass. Separate change and wash facilities are set up, workers decontaminate on leaving the area, PPE is laundered on site and is not taken home, and an exclusion zone with toe-boards protects anyone below. Lead waste is bagged and disposed of as hazardous waste and is never dry-swept. The shielding assessment, the air-monitoring and health-monitoring records and the signed safe work method statement are kept on site for the responsible state WHS regulator, and the room is cleaned and clearance-checked before the imaging equipment is installed under separate arrangements.

Related legislation

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (harmonised; enacted in all states and territories except Victoria, which applies the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004), s.19 — Primary duty of care to workers and to other persons, including people in the occupied building
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, section 291 — Defines high risk construction work, including a risk of a fall of more than two metres and work requiring respiratory protection (Victoria: Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, Part 5.1)
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, section 299 — Content and review requirements for a safe work method statement for high risk construction work (Victoria: regulation 327; Tasmania: regulation 312)
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, Schedule 14 — Health monitoring for lead-risk work, including biological monitoring against the blood-lead removal level
• State and territory Radiation Control Acts (for example New South Wales 1990, Victoria 2005, Queensland 1999) — Regulate the imaging or radiotherapy facility; shielding installed to the documented radiation shielding assessment

Frequently asked questions