Lift / Elevator Maintenance / Service SWMS
SWMS template for lift / elevator maintenance / service. Covers Routine service, rope inspection, controls.. 8-state AU coverage, CIH-reviewed editable DOCX, available as an instant download.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Lift and elevator maintenance covers planned servicing, rope and sheave inspection, controller diagnostics, brake testing, governor adjustment and call-back fault rectification on passenger and goods lifts in commercial, residential and industrial buildings. The work is classified as High Risk Construction Work under WHS Regulation 2025 r291 because technicians enter lift shafts (a confined space risk), work at height on car tops and in pits, energise and de-energise live electrical control panels, and work beneath or beside suspended loads carried on traction ropes or hydraulic rams. A documented Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory before any maintenance task commences and must be prepared in consultation with the workers carrying out the task, kept on site, and reviewed whenever the method, plant or environment changes. This SWMS template addresses isolation and lockout under AS/NZS 4836, shaft access procedures aligned with AS 1735.1, confined space entry under AS 2865, and the supervisor / worker sign-on workflow required by the WHS Regulation.
Hazards identified
7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Crushing between car and shaft components causing fatal traumatic asphyxia or multiple fractures and PCBU prosecution
Electrocution, arc flash burns to face and hands, ventricular fibrillation and notifiable incident under WHS Act s38
Falls from height exceeding 2 metres causing spinal injury, traumatic brain injury or fatality from impact
Oxygen deficiency, hydrocarbon inhalation, leptospirosis exposure and breach of AS 2865 confined space entry requirements
Car free-fall onto technician in pit causing crushing fatality despite governor and safety gear redundancy
Degloving, finger amputation or arm crush injuries requiring surgical intervention and SafeWork notification
Acute lumbar disc injury, shoulder rotator cuff tear and chronic musculoskeletal disorder claims under workers compensation
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination — Where practicable, perform diagnostics remotely via the controller monitoring port from the machine room rather than entering the shaft or car top.
- 2Elimination — Remove redundant lift cars from service and physically demobilise (chain to buffer) before commencing rope replacement to eliminate suspended load risk.
- 3Substitution — Substitute hot electrical work with de-energised testing using insulated multimeter probes rated CAT IV 600V after proving dead per AS/NZS 4836.
- 4Substitution — Replace manual rope inspection on car top with magnetic rope tester (MRT) deployed from machine room for full-length non-destructive examination.
- 5Engineering — Apply mechanical lockout to mainline isolator, lock pit stop switch, top-of-car inspection switch and install shaft door zone bypass key per AS 1735.1.
- 6Engineering — Install temporary edge protection at open landing doors with self-closing barrier rated to AS/NZS 4994 before any door is opened for shaft access.
- 7Administrative — Conduct pre-start atmospheric test of lift pit with calibrated four-gas monitor (O2, LEL, CO, H2S) and issue Confined Space Entry Permit per AS 2865.
- 8Administrative — Two-person work rule for all car-top, pit and live controller work with documented standby communications and rescue plan briefed at sign-on.
- 9PPE — Class 0 insulated electrical gloves (1000V) with leather overgloves, arc-rated FR coveralls (minimum 8 cal/cm²) and face shield for any live testing or proving dead.
- 10PPE — Full-body harness AS/NZS 1891.1 with shock-absorbing lanyard anchored to certified car-top anchor point, plus AS/NZS 1801 hard hat, AS/NZS 2210.3 safety boots and cut-5 gloves for rope handling.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Defines shaft access, inspection switch logic, top-of-car running speed limits and pit refuge dimensions directly governing every maintenance entry.
Lift pits and shafts meeting the confined space definition trigger entry permit, atmospheric testing and standby person duties under WHS Reg r66.
Mandates isolation, testing for dead, tagging and electrically safe work procedures for lift controller and drive maintenance activities.
Sets the fall prevention hierarchy applied to car-top work, open landing doors and pit access exceeding the 2-metre fall threshold under r78.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Lift pits and shafts are enclosed spaces not designed for human occupancy with restricted egress and potential hydrocarbon vapour accumulation.
Controller fault-finding, drive replacement and brake adjustment routinely require proving dead adjacent to live 415V busbars and capacitor banks.
Technicians work directly beneath suspended traction-rope loads (car and counterweight) where rope or termination failure would result in crush fatality.
PCBU must prepare, consult workers on and retain the SWMS for the duration of the work plus two years after a notifiable incident; penalties for reckless conduct are substantial and indexed, with the current maximum following the prevailing WHS schedule.
Who this is for
- →Lift service technicians in commercial high-rise portfolios
- →Vertical transport supervisors managing call-back crews
- →Facility managers procuring lift maintenance contracts
- →Modernisation contractors retrofitting traction and hydraulic units
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
At an 18-level commercial tower in a metropolitan CBD, a two-person lift crew arrives for a scheduled 12-month rope inspection on Car 3. Before any tools leave the van, the lead technician opens this SWMS at the foyer machine room and runs the pre-start brief with the offsider. Together they walk the hazard register — confirming today's work activates the suspended load, confined space pit entry and live controller hazards listed. They select the corresponding controls: mainline isolator locked and tagged, pit stop switch engaged, four-gas monitor calibrated and lowered into the pit, top-of-car inspection switch proven, and a temporary self-closing barrier installed at the Ground landing. Both technicians sign the SWMS sign-on register noting their licence numbers and the controls they verified. Mid-task, the offsider identifies a frayed governor rope tail not covered in the original scope. Work stops. The lead reopens the SWMS, adds the additional hazard and the MRT inspection control as a documented amendment, re-briefs the offsider, and both re-sign before resuming. At task close, the signed SWMS is uploaded to the building's compliance portal and retained by the PCBU as evidence of consultation and risk control under WHS Regulation 2025.
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 (model)
- WHS Regulation 2025
- AS/NZS 3000 — Electrical installations
Frequently asked questions
Is lift and elevator maintenance high risk construction work?
On most jobs, yes — and usually on more than one ground at once. Entering a lift pit or shaft is work in or near a confined space under WHS Regulation 2025 s291(f). Fault-finding at a 415 V controller is work on or near energised electrical installations under s291(k). Car-top and pit access exposes the technician to a fall beyond 2 metres under s291(a). Any single one of those engages the SWMS duty at s299: the statement must exist before work starts, be prepared in consultation with the technicians doing the work, stay on site, and be reviewed whenever the method, plant or environment changes.
Do I still need a confined space entry permit if I have this SWMS?
Yes. The two documents do different jobs. The SWMS sets the method for the whole maintenance task; the entry permit required by AS 2865:2009 authorises one specific entry into that pit or shaft on that occasion, after a calibrated four-gas monitor has returned acceptable oxygen, LEL, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide readings and a standby person is posted at the landing. This template carries the atmospheric testing, permit and standby-person controls in its register so the two line up rather than contradict each other, but the permit itself is issued at the job by the person holding that authority.
Who is allowed to work on the controller and drive?
A licensed electrical worker. Isolating, tagging, proving dead at the busbars and discharging drive capacitors all sit under AS/NZS 4836:2023, and the controls are written around that sequence — mainline isolator locked out, pit stop and top-of-car inspection switches engaged, CAT IV 600 V instruments, Class 0 insulated gloves under leather overgloves, and arc-rated coveralls plus face shield for any proving-dead step. Lift trade registration and electrical licensing requirements differ between states. The document does not confer competency; it records the competencies you verified and the licence numbers captured at sign-on.
Does it cover rope replacement and hydraulic lifts, or only routine servicing?
Both. The hazard register runs from planned servicing — rope and sheave inspection, controller diagnostics, brake testing, governor adjustment — through to call-back fault rectification and full rope replacement, and the suspended load hazard is written for the case where a technician is under the car and counterweight in the pit. Hydraulic units are covered through the pit hydrocarbon vapour hazard and ram isolation. The shaft access, inspection switch logic and pit refuge controls follow AS 1735.1. Edit the scope section to name the actual units, drive type and building, and delete the rows that do not apply to that site.
What do I actually receive, and how is it used on a call-back?
An editable Microsoft Word document, bought once: a hazard register with risk ratings mapped to the hierarchy of control, a state-specific WHS legislation schedule covering NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, NT and ACT, a worker sign-on register, a pre-start checklist and an incident escalation flow. On a call-back the lead technician runs the pre-start brief from it in the machine room and both workers sign on against the controls they have verified. If the fault turns out to sit outside the briefed scope — a frayed governor rope tail, say — work stops, the SWMS is amended and re-signed, then work resumes.
Document details
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