Industrial Machinery Installation SWMS

Industrial machinery installation involves positioning, aligning, anchoring, connecting and commissioning heavy fixed plant — press lines, CNC machining centres, conveyors, packaging equipment, mixers, compressors and process skids — inside operating or newly constructed facilities. Work typically combines rigging and load shifting with powered mobile plant (forklifts, cranes, elevated work platforms), hot work, energised electrical termination, hydraulic and pneumatic pressurisation, and confined or restricted access. Loads are heavy and unstable during placement, stored energy is progressively introduced during commissioning, and installers frequently work alongside production personnel unfamiliar with construction hazards.

Under the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), section 291 defines this activity as high risk construction work where it involves work on or near energised electrical installations or services (s291(k)) and work where there is movement of powered mobile plant (s291(o)). Section 299 requires a Safe Work Method Statement to be prepared before work commences, identifying hazards, assessing risks and documenting controls applied in accordance with the hierarchy of control under section 36. This SWMS documents isolation, exclusion zoning, load management and verification controls consistent with AS/NZS standards and SafeWork NSW Codes of Practice.

Hazards identified

12 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

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

1. 1Eliminate live work: isolate the supply at the switchboard, apply personal danger tags and padlocks under a documented lock-out/tag-out procedure, and verify dead with a tested voltage indicator before any termination — live testing only where unavoidable and only by a licensed electrical worker under AS/NZS 4836.
2. 2Substitute manual placement with engineered lifting: use rated lifting lugs, spreader beams and certified rigging designed to AS 4991, with load calculations and lift study signed off by a competent rigger before the lift.
3. 3Engineer exclusion of powered mobile plant from personnel: establish hard-barricaded exclusion zones, use spotters, install physical stops and travel limits, and separate pedestrian routes in accordance with the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice — Managing the Risks of Plant in the Workplace.
4. 4Apply full energy isolation prior to mechanical work: bleed hydraulic accumulators, vent pneumatic receivers, block gravitational loads and discharge capacitors; verify zero-energy state and lock isolators in accordance with AS 4024.1603 (safety of machinery — prevention of unexpected start-up).
5. 5Control silica dust during concrete drilling and chasing: use tools fitted with on-tool water suppression or H-class LEV extraction complying with AS/NZS 60335.2.69, and maintain airborne exposure below the workplace exposure standard of 0.05 mg/m³ 8-hour TWA.
6. 6Manage asbestos risk on brownfield sites: obtain and review the site asbestos register before penetration or demolition of legacy equipment; where ACM is suspected, cease work and engage a licensed asbestos assessor in accordance with the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice — How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace.
7. 7Implement a hot work permit system: remove combustibles within a 10 m radius, deploy a trained fire watch with a serviced extinguisher, and maintain the watch for at least 60 minutes post-completion in accordance with AS 1674.1.
8. 8Provide compliant fall protection when working on elevated machine structures: use EWPs, fixed platforms with edge protection to AS 1657, or a travel-restraint/fall-arrest system to AS/NZS 1891 with a documented rescue plan.
9. 9Verify structural adequacy of the installation floor and anchor design: obtain engineering certification of point loads, anchor pull-out capacity and floor thickness before setting or torquing holding-down bolts.
10. 10Control noise through engineering (acoustic enclosures, damping) and administrative measures (rotation, restricted-access signage); provide hearing protection selected to AS/NZS 1270 where exposure exceeds 85 dB(A) LAeq,8h.
11. 11Select PPE to task: AS/NZS 2210 safety footwear, AS/NZS 1337.1 eye protection, arc-rated clothing to AS/NZS 4836 for electrical work, AS/NZS 1716 P2 respirators for dust, and AS/NZS 1801 hard hats — issued, fit-tested where applicable, and inspected before each shift.
12. 12Confirm all workers hold White Card (CPCCWHS1001) and relevant High Risk Work Licences (rigging, crane, forklift, EWP >11 m); consult the workforce on this SWMS under section 47 of the WHS Act, sign-on prior to work, and review the SWMS under section 302 of the WHS Regulation 2025 when methods, plant or personnel change or following any incident.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

A mechanical contractor is engaged to install a 12-tonne servo-driven stamping press and infeed conveyor inside an operating automotive components factory at Ingleburn, NSW. Works include core-drilling forty M24 chemical anchors into the existing concrete floor, crane placement of the press bed through a roof opening, alignment and grouting, termination of a 415 V 250 A supply from a new sub-board, hydraulic pack fill and pressure test, and commissioning runs alongside continuing adjacent production. The SWMS identifies s291(k) (energised electrical work at the sub-board) and s291(o) (mobile crane, two forklifts and a scissor lift operating in a shared aisle) as the HRCW triggers. Controls include a signed lift study to AS 4991, hard-barricaded 5 m exclusion zone with dedicated spotter, LOTO on the sub-board isolator verified with a tested voltage indicator, on-tool water suppression during core-drilling with air monitoring against the 0.05 mg/m³ silica WES, and staged commissioning with production halted in the adjacent bay. All workers sign on and hold current White Card plus relevant HRW licences.

Related legislation

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW)
• Electricity Supply Act 1995 (NSW)
• Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act 2004 (NSW)
• Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW)
• Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Act 2008 (NSW)

Frequently asked questions