Spider Treatment SWMS
External and internal spider treatment using residual sprays, dust, and barrier treatments. Covers application around eaves, weep holes, fences, garages. Use of EWP or extension pole for high access.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Spider treatment work involves the targeted application of residual liquid sprays, insecticidal dusts and barrier chemicals to external and internal harbourage zones including eaves, weep holes, fence lines, garage cavities and subfloors. The work routinely combines chemical handling with reach-pole or elevating work platform (EWP) access above two metres and direct encounter risk with venomous species including redback (Latrodectus hasselti), white-tailed (Lampona spp.) and funnel-web (Atrax/Hadronyche spp.) spiders. Under WHS Regulation 2025 section 291, the work triggers High Risk Construction Work categories for chemical exposure and work at height, and the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code Act 1994 imposes label-rate compliance obligations on every application. A Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory before work commences because the combined chemical, fall and envenomation risk profile cannot be adequately controlled through generic risk assessment, and the PCBU must demonstrate documented consultation, control selection and worker sign-on for each site.
Hazards identified
7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Paraesthesia, respiratory irritation, allergic contact dermatitis and potential sensitisation requiring notifiable incident reporting under WHS Reg s38
Neurotoxic or latrotoxin envenomation requiring antivenom, hospitalisation and potential fatality if untreated within hours
Fractures, spinal injury or fatality; notifiable dangerous incident under WHS Act s37 regardless of injury outcome
Acute respiratory irritation, chronic occupational asthma and cumulative organ burden over career exposure period
Third-party chemical exposure, aquatic toxicity breaches under APVMA label and civil liability for property contamination
Dehydration, heat exhaustion progressing to heat stroke; impaired chemical handling judgement increasing secondary incident risk
Lumbar strain, rotator cuff injury and repetitive strain injuries accounting for majority of pest technician lost-time claims
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination — Remove the need for high-access spraying by using long-life encapsulated formulations applied from ground level via telescopic lance, eliminating ladder work where treatment zones permit.
- 2Elimination — Refuse to treat active funnel-web burrows; isolate the zone, notify occupier and arrange specialist relocation rather than direct chemical disturbance of the harbourage.
- 3Substitution — Select lower-toxicity APVMA-registered actives (Schedule 5) such as bifenthrin micro-encapsulated suspensions in preference to Schedule 6 concentrates where label efficacy permits.
- 4Substitution — Use wettable powder or suspension concentrate in place of dust formulations for external applications to eliminate airborne particulate inhalation risk.
- 5Engineering — Deploy EWP with harness anchor point for any sustained work above 2m in preference to extension ladder per AS/NZS 1418.10 and WHS Reg s78.
- 6Engineering — Use closed-system mixing, calibrated low-pressure spray tips (<300 kPa) and drift-reduction nozzles to minimise aerosolisation and off-target contamination.
- 7Administrative — Conduct documented pre-start SWMS sign-on, review SDS for each product, confirm wind speed <15 km/h, and verify occupant/pet exclusion zone before mixing commences.
- 8Administrative — Carry a charged mobile phone, pressure bandages and identification chart for funnel-web/redback; implement buddy check-in protocol for solo external work.
- 9PPE — Wear chemical-resistant nitrile gloves (AS/NZS 2161.10.1), P2 half-face respirator with organic vapour cartridge (AS/NZS 1716), splash goggles, long-sleeve coveralls and chemical-resistant footwear.
- 10PPE — Don full-body Type 4 chemical coveralls and full-face respirator for void dusting, subfloor work and any overhead application where back-spray contact is foreseeable.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Mandates SDS access, register maintenance, exposure standard compliance and health monitoring triggers for pyrethroid and organophosphate handlers under WHS Reg s36-s38.
Prescribes fit-testing, cartridge selection and storage of P2/organic vapour respirators required during dust application and confined void treatment.
Triggers fall prevention duty for eaves and gable treatment above 2m under WHS Reg s78, including EWP selection over ladders where reasonably practicable.
Enforces strict label-rate adherence, buffer zone and re-entry interval obligations; breach is a strict liability offence independent of WHS prosecution.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Treatment of eaves, gables, second-storey weep holes and garage rafters routinely places the technician above 2m on ladders or EWP platforms.
PCBU must consult workers, document the SWMS, retain records for two years (or until incident closure) and review after any incident; penalties for Category 1 breach are substantial and indexed, with the current maximum following the prevailing WHS schedule.
Who this is for
- →Licensed pest management technicians servicing residential properties
- →Commercial pest control operators on strata and body corporate contracts
- →Solo-operator pest businesses servicing rural and acreage clients
- →Facilities managers engaging pest contractors for school and aged-care sites
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 Tuesday morning external general pest treatment at a two-storey suburban brick-veneer home with attached double garage, the technician opens the Spider Treatment SWMS on a tablet at the vehicle before unloading. The pre-start review identifies three live hazards for this site: funnel-web habitat (mulched garden beds adjacent to the slab), eave treatment above 2m on the western elevation, and a swimming pool within drift range of the rear fence line. The technician selects controls from the SWMS: bifenthrin micro-encapsulated suspension at label rate (substitution), EWP hired for the western eaves rather than the 3.6m extension ladder originally planned (engineering), and a 3m no-spray buffer pegged around the pool with the occupier briefed and pets confined indoors (administrative). PPE is donned per the SWMS checklist — nitrile gloves, P2 respirator with organic vapour cartridge, splash goggles and coveralls — and the technician signs the SWMS sign-on register on the tablet. Mid-task, a redback egg sac is discovered inside a weep hole; the technician pauses, returns to the SWMS, confirms the biological hazard control (direct dust application with extended lance, no hand contact) and documents the deviation in the site notes before resuming. The completed SWMS, sign-on record and product application log are synchronised to the office at job close.
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 (model)
- WHS Regulation 2025
- Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces CoP
Frequently asked questions
Do I legally need a SWMS for a spider treatment?
A routine treatment at an occupied home is not construction work, so the s299 duty is not automatically triggered. Three sets of duties do apply on every job regardless: the falls duties for eave, gable and second-storey weep hole work above 2 metres, the hazardous chemicals duties for pyrethroid concentrates and insecticidal dusts, and the primary duty to have a documented safe system of work. Where the treatment is carried out as part of construction work on a site, work above 2 metres engages WHS Regulation s291(a). Strata managers, schools and aged-care facilities routinely require this document before they will let a technician on site.
What do we do if we find an active funnel-web burrow?
Do not treat it. The elimination control is explicit: refuse to treat active funnel-web burrows, isolate the zone, notify the occupier and arrange specialist relocation rather than chemically disturbing the harbourage, because disturbance drives the spider out rather than killing it in place. Backing that up, the administrative controls require a charged mobile phone, pressure bandages and a redback and funnel-web identification chart carried on every job, plus a buddy check-in protocol for solo external work — which matters most for the acreage and rural jobs technicians attend alone.
Can we treat eaves from an extension ladder?
Only where nothing better is reasonably practicable, and the document steers you away from it twice. The elimination control uses long-life encapsulated formulations delivered from ground level with a telescopic lance, which removes the height exposure rather than protecting against it. Where sustained work above 2 metres is unavoidable, an EWP with a harness anchor point is specified in preference to an extension ladder. The worked example applies both: the western elevation eaves go to a hired EWP instead of the 3.6 metre ladder originally planned, and that decision is recorded on the SWMS before work starts.
How do we keep spray off the pool, vegetable garden and pet bowls?
Wind speed is confirmed under 15 km/h at pre-start, mixing is done closed-system, and application uses calibrated low-pressure tips below 300 kPa with drift-reduction nozzles so there is less airborne product to move. The occupier and pet exclusion zone is verified before mixing begins, not after loading the sprayer. The worked example pegs a 3 metre no-spray buffer around a swimming pool within drift range, briefs the occupier and confines pets indoors. Remember the APVMA label sets binding buffer zones and re-entry intervals, and a breach is a strict liability offence separate from any WHS consequence.
I run a one-person business — what do I actually get?
One editable Word document, bought once, in a state edition for NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, NT or ACT, containing the hazard register with risk ratings, hierarchy-of-control mapping, the legislation schedule, a sign-on register, a pre-start checklist and an incident escalation flow. For a solo operator the sign-on register still earns its place, since it is the record you produce when a client or an insurer asks how the job was assessed. Make it site-specific each time: the actual product and its label rate, the access method, the buffer distances, and the harbourage zones identified at that property.
Document details
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