Heritage Roof Restoration (Slate / Terracotta) SWMS

Heritage roof restoration on slate and terracotta-tiled buildings is one of the highest-risk activities in the Australian roofing sector, combining work at height on aged, brittle substrates with the manual handling of dense unit materials over fragile battens and sarking. Original Welsh slate, Marseille pattern terracotta and Cordova tiles routinely exceed 80 years of service life, with weathered nails, perished sarking and decayed timber battens that will not arrest a worker's fall. Under WHS Regulation 2011 r291 and equivalent provisions in each state, this work is classified High Risk Construction Work on multiple grounds — work at height above two metres, work on or near fragile roofing material, and manual tasks involving repetitive force. A documented SWMS must be prepared, consulted on with workers, and available for inspection before any restoration task commences. This template provides the structured hazard identification, hierarchy-of-control selection and sign-on framework required by the regulator and by principal contractors managing heritage-listed assets.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

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

1. 1Elimination — Where structurally feasible, lift entire roof section to ground level using crane and timber crating for restoration in workshop, eliminating at-height exposure entirely.
2. 2Elimination — Defer any non-critical access during wind speeds above 36 km/h, frost, or wet conditions that compromise tile friction and worker footing.
3. 3Substitution — Replace dry mortar cutting with wet-cut diamond blade saws plumbed to water suppression, substituting respirable crystalline silica generation with slurry capture.
4. 4Engineering — Install perimeter guardrails to AS/NZS 4994.1 along all eaves, gables and penetrations before any roof access, with toe boards to contain dropped units.
5. 5Engineering — Deploy continuous fall-arrest mesh or crawl boards spanning at least three rafters beneath all work positions on fragile slate or terracotta substrate.
6. 6Engineering — Use M-Class HEPA on-tool extraction connected to cut-off saws and demolition tools per AS/NZS 60335.2.69 to capture silica and lead dust at source.
7. 7Administrative — Conduct documented pre-start structural assessment of battens, sarking and rafters by qualified person; isolate and tag any zones rated unsafe for foot traffic.
8. 8Administrative — Rotate manual handling tasks on 45-minute cycles, cap individual tile carry loads at 15 kg, and use mechanical tile elevators for bulk transfers above eight metres.
9. 9PPE — Issue full-body harness with twin lanyards rated to AS/NZS 1891.1, anchored to certified roof anchors installed and inspected to AS/NZS 5532 before each shift.
10. 10PPE — Provide P2 respirators (powered air-purifying for prolonged cutting), nitrile-coated cut-5 gloves, lead-rated coveralls, and impact safety eyewear to AS/NZS 1337.1.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

On a heritage Federation-era church restoration, the leading hand opens this SWMS at the 6:45am pre-start tailgate with a four-person slate crew. Working through the hazards register, the team identifies that yesterday's rain has left the southern pitch slick and that the eastern valley shows visible batten rot flagged in the structural pre-assessment — that zone is immediately barricaded with bunting and marked no-access on the site plan. Controls are selected against today's tasks: stripping 200 broken Welsh slates on the northern pitch. The team confirms perimeter guardrails are continuous, the fall-arrest mesh installed yesterday spans the work zone, and twin-lanyard harnesses are anchored to two certified eyebolts inspected and signed off this morning. The wet-cut saw is plumbed and the M-Class extractor bag is changed. Each worker signs the SWMS sign-on register acknowledging they understand the fragile-substrate and silica controls. Two hours in, wind gusts reach 38 km/h. The supervisor pauses work, references the SWMS environmental trigger clause, and stands the crew down to ground-based mortar preparation until conditions ease. The SWMS is annotated with the stoppage time and reason, ready for the principal contractor's daily HSE review and any regulator inspection.

Related legislation

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

Frequently asked questions