Orchard & Table-Grape Pruning SWMS

Orchard and table-grape pruning is sustained, repetitive secateur, lopper and powered-pruner work performed at canopy height across uneven row floors, frequently from ladders or elevating work platforms (EWPs). Workers are exposed to laceration energy, falls from height, hand-arm vibration, sustained awkward postures, ambient heat and ultraviolet load, plus residual agrichemical and biological contamination on foliage and bark. Under WHS Regulation 2025, pruning crews routinely meet High Risk Construction-Work-equivalent agricultural triggers — fall risk above two metres, powered cutting tools, and hazardous manual tasks — making a documented Safe Work Method Statement mandatory before the task commences. The SWMS must identify each hazard, rank it, set the chosen hierarchy controls, record worker consultation under s47–49, and be available at the workface for the duration of the activity. This document satisfies those duties for stone-fruit, pome-fruit, citrus and table-grape pruning operations across Australian growing regions.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

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

1. 1Elimination — schedule heaviest structural cuts to mechanised hedger or platform-mounted reciprocating bar where row geometry permits, removing hand-cutting at height entirely.
2. 2Elimination — reorganise shift to start at first light and stand crews down once Wet Bulb Globe Temperature exceeds 30°C, removing peak heat exposure.
3. 3Substitution — replace pneumatic shears with low-vibration battery electric pruners certified to ISO 5349 below 2.5 m/s² aw(8) trigger-time exposure.
4. 4Substitution — substitute aluminium step-ladders with self-levelling tripod orchard ladders or self-propelled scissor EWPs on row floors with greater than five-degree cross-fall.
5. 5Engineering — fit blade guards, anti-grab finger shields and dead-man trigger interlocks on all powered pruners; tag out any tool failing pre-start function test.
6. 6Engineering — install shade-cloth canopies on EWP baskets, in-cab water reservoirs and chilled rehydration stations at every second row end.
7. 7Administrative — enforce mandatory re-entry intervals from the spray diary; verify last application date and active constituent before any worker enters the block.
8. 8Administrative — rotate powered-pruner operators on 50-minute work / 10-minute rest cycle, log trigger time, and apply task rotation to limit sustained overhead reach to two-hour blocks.
9. 9Administrative — pre-start SWMS sign-on, daily toolbox covering wasp-nest checks, ladder footing inspection and buddy-pair line of sight in dense canopy.
10. 10PPE — cut-resistant ANSI A4 gloves on stabilising hand, AS/NZS 1067 wide-brim hat and UPF50+ long sleeve, AS/NZS 1337.1 safety eyewear, anti-vibration gloves, and adrenaline auto-injector accessible in first-aid kit for known anaphylactic workers.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

At a 40-hectare table-grape block in a Sunraysia-style irrigation region, a contract pruning crew of six is rostered for winter cordon renewal. The crew leader opens the Orchard & Table-Grape Pruning SWMS on the ute tailgate at 6:45am pre-start. Walking through the hazard register, the crew flags two issues for the day: overnight rain has left clay row floors greasy, and the spray diary shows a copper hydroxide application 11 days earlier with a 14-day re-entry interval still active on the eastern blocks. Using the SWMS control table, the leader eliminates the eastern blocks from the day's program, redirects the crew to the western rows, and substitutes self-levelling tripod ladders for the planned step-ladders on the cross-fall sections. Each worker signs the SWMS sign-on sheet, confirms cut-resistant glove condition, and collects a chilled 2-litre hydration bladder. Mid-morning, the leader observes one pruner exceeding the 50-minute powered-tool rotation; the SWMS rotation log is referenced and the worker is swapped to hand-secateur work on a lower cordon. At 11:20am the in-cab WBGT reading hits 29°C, triggering the SWMS heat-trigger review. The leader documents the change, extends rest cycles to 15 minutes, and notes the adjustment on the live SWMS for end-of-day filing and regulator availability.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces CoP

Frequently asked questions