Playground / Soft-Fall Surface Install SWMS

Playground and soft-fall surface installation covers wet-pour rubber systems, engineered wood-fibre mulch and washed sand under-surfacing beneath play equipment in schools, childcare centres, councils and residential developments. The work involves handling two-part polyurethane binders, mixing EPDM granules, operating compactors and screeds, and manually placing tonnes of loose-fill material across prepared sub-bases. Under WHS Regulation 2011 r291 this is High Risk Construction Work because it involves the use of hazardous chemicals (isocyanate-based binders), powered mobile plant in close proximity to workers, and sustained manual handling exceeding safe load thresholds. A Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory before work commences and must be developed in consultation with workers, kept on site for the duration of the activity, and produced on request to the regulator. AS 4422-2016 (Playground surfacing) and AS/NZS 4486.1 also dictate critical fall height performance, which controls how the SWMS must specify depth, compaction and binder ratios.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

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

1. 1Elimination — Where possible, eliminate site mixing by specifying pre-mixed factory-bonded tiles or prefabricated rubber mats removing isocyanate exposure entirely from the playground footprint.
2. 2Elimination — Schedule installation during school holidays, childcare closure days or after-hours council access windows to eliminate child and public intrusion into the active wet-pour zone.
3. 3Substitution — Substitute aromatic MDI binders with lower-emission aliphatic polyurethane systems carrying SDS verification of reduced sensitiser content and request low-VOC formulations from approved suppliers.
4. 4Substitution — Replace manual bag handling with bulk-bag jib crane delivery or 1-tonne FIBC slings discharged directly into the mixer hopper to reduce repetitive lifting.
5. 5Engineering — Install perimeter mesh hoarding minimum 1.8m high with lockable gates, signage in plain English and pictograms, isolating the cure zone for the full 24-hour set period.
6. 6Engineering — Use forced-draught mixing stations positioned upwind of trowellers, wet-cut concrete edging with integrated water suppression, and mechanical screeds to remove sustained stooped trowelling.
7. 7Administrative — Conduct daily pre-start brief signing this SWMS, rotate trowelling crews every 45 minutes, enforce Bureau of Meteorology heat policy stand-downs above WBGT 30°C and log chemical batch numbers.
8. 8Administrative — Implement spotter protocols for all skid-steer movements per AS 2550.1, restrict reverse travel, and require health monitoring for isocyanate-exposed workers per WHS Reg r368 Schedule 14.
9. 9PPE — Provide A2P3 half-face respirators fit-tested annually, nitrile chemical gauntlets to EN 374, knee pads, safety eyewear to AS/NZS 1337.1 and broad-brim hats with SPF 50+ sunscreen.
10. 10PPE — Issue Class D/N hi-vis to AS/NZS 4602.1, steel-midsole boots to AS/NZS 2210.3, and disposable Type 5/6 coveralls for binder mixers replaced between each pour batch.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

A landscaping crew is installing 180m² of wet-pour rubber under a new climbing tower at a suburban primary school during the September school holidays. At the 6:45am pre-start brief, the supervisor opens this SWMS on a site tablet and walks the four-person crew through each hazard line. The isocyanate exposure row prompts the supervisor to confirm every mixer and troweller has a valid fit-test certificate for their A2P3 respirator, and to verify the binder SDS batch matches what was delivered. The manual handling row triggers a decision to rig the 1-tonne FIBC of EPDM granules to the skid-steer jib rather than hand-decanting 25kg bags as originally planned — the SWMS control is annotated live on the tablet to reflect this substitution. Each worker signs the SWMS sign-on sheet, including a casual labourer who is briefed separately on the public intrusion control because the school caretaker is on site. At 11:20am, ambient temperature reaches 32°C and the BoM app issues a heat advisory; the supervisor stops work, references the administrative heat-stress control in the SWMS, rotates the crew into a shaded rest cycle and documents the stand-down in the site diary against this SWMS revision. The document functions as a live field control, not a filing-cabinet artefact.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• AS 2550 — Cranes, hoists and winches; AS 1418 series