Printing Web Threading & Splicing SWMS
Web threading and splicing on offset/flexographic presses. Covers nip-point guards, run-stop control, lock-out tag-out, knife handling.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Web threading and splicing on offset and flexographic printing presses is one of the highest-risk routine tasks in the commercial printing sector. Operators must feed paper, film or foil substrates through multiple in-running nip points, rotating idler rollers, dryers and chill drums — often at inch or crawl speeds with guards opened or interlocks bypassed. Splicing introduces additional hazards from sharp knives, double-sided tape application near rotating plant, and the potential for sudden web tension release. Under WHS Regulation 2025, this work constitutes plant interaction with rotating machinery and entanglement risk, both of which require a documented Safe Work Method Statement before work commences. The PCBU must ensure the SWMS is developed in consultation with operators, reviewed at each shift handover, and kept available at the press for the duration of the activity. This SWMS aligns threading and splicing tasks with AS 4024 machinery safety requirements and the Plant Code of Practice.
Hazards identified
7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Finger, hand or arm draw-in causing degloving, crush amputation, fractures and permanent loss of limb function
Sudden pull-in resulting in fatal crushing, scalping, or asphyxiation against fixed press frame components
Catastrophic crush injuries, fatality, and breach of WHS Regulation 2025 plant isolation duties under s201
Deep lacerations to fingers and palms requiring tendon repair, infection risk, and lost-time injury
Facial lacerations, eye injury from flying tape or substrate edges, and impact bruising to upper body
Respiratory irritation, dermatitis, and chronic exposure to isopropanol or hydrocarbon-based wash solvents
Falls from press walkway, sprains, fractures, or secondary contact with moving plant during loss of balance
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination — Where press design allows, use automatic web-up systems or rope-threading devices so operators never place hands between rotating cylinders during the threading sequence.
- 2Elimination — Schedule all splice preparation (tape application, tail squaring) on a dedicated offline splice table rather than at the running unwind stand.
- 3Substitution — Replace open utility knives with self-retracting safety blade cutters compliant with AS/NZS ISO 12100 risk reduction principles for splice trimming tasks.
- 4Substitution — Use water-based or low-VOC wash solvents in place of high-aromatic hydrocarbons to reduce inhalation and dermal exposure during threading near inkers.
- 5Engineering — Fit fixed and interlocked movable guards on all nip points to AS 4024.1601, ensuring inch-mode is only available with two-hand control held continuously.
- 6Engineering — Install emergency-stop pull-wires the full length of each press unit and verify monthly that activation drops power within the AS 4024.1502 stopping-time requirement.
- 7Administrative — Apply lock-out tag-out per AS 4024.1603 before any threading task requiring guard removal; each operator applies a personal lock on the main isolator.
- 8Administrative — Conduct a documented pre-start brief using this SWMS, confirm crew sign-on, and verify inch-speed limits are set before energising the press drive.
- 9PPE — Wear close-fitting cotton coveralls without loose cuffs, tie back long hair, remove rings/watches, and use cut-5 rated gloves only during knife handling — never near rotating rollers.
- 10PPE — Use safety glasses to AS/NZS 1337.1 and half-face respirator with A1 organic vapour cartridges when threading adjacent to active inker or solvent wash-up units.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Defines PCBU duty to guard in-running nips, provide isolation procedures, and document plant-specific safe operating procedures for press threading tasks.
Specifies guard design, interlock performance level, and two-hand inch-control requirements directly applicable to web press threading operations.
Provides the hierarchy methodology used to assess residual entanglement risk during threading and justify selected control measures in the SWMS.
Mandates isolation before guard removal, competency verification for press operators, and documented SWMS for threading tasks involving rotating plant.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Threading requires hands within reach of rotating cylinders, idlers and chill drums while drive systems remain energised in inch mode, creating direct entanglement exposure.
Operators feed substrate through in-running nip points where the impression cylinder closes against the plate cylinder, creating a classic trap-point geometry.
PCBU must consult operators in SWMS development, retain the document for two years after the notifiable incident threshold, and face penalties that are substantial and indexed; current maximum follows the prevailing WHS schedule.
Who this is for
- →Press operators on commercial offset and flexo lines
- →Production supervisors in packaging and label printing
- →WHS coordinators at sheet-fed and web-fed print houses
- →Maintenance fitters performing press make-ready tasks
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 a regional packaging plant, a flexographic press crew is preparing for a 6:00 am shift changeover requiring a full web-up of a 1.2-metre BOPP film through eight print stations and a hot-air dryer. The lead operator opens this SWMS at the press-side document station during the pre-start brief and walks the two assisting operators through the hazard register. The crew identifies that today's job requires threading past an inker that was washed up with solvent thirty minutes prior, so the SWMS prompts them to add A1 cartridge respirators to the standard PPE selection. The lead operator applies a personal lockout to the main isolator and each crew member adds their own lock before any nip guard is opened. Inch-mode is set to the SWMS-specified maximum of 5 metres per minute using the two-hand control. Mid-task, a substrate tail tears and requires re-splicing — the operator stops the press, moves the splice preparation to the offline table as the SWMS controls require, uses a self-retracting safety knife for the square cut, and only re-energises the drive once all crew confirm hands-clear. Each operator signs the SWMS register, and the document is filed against the job number for the two-year retention period.
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 (model)
- WHS Regulation 2025
- AS 2550 — Cranes, hoists and winches; AS 1418 series