Stone Pitching & Stone Walling SWMS

Stone pitching and stone walling work involves the construction of retaining walls, decorative landscape features, and structural masonry using natural or quarried stone laid in dry-stack or mortared configurations. The work combines repetitive manual handling of awkward, irregular stones often exceeding 25 kg with on-site shaping using hammers, chisels, and powered cutting tools that liberate respirable crystalline silica (RCS). Where any retaining structure exceeds 1.5 m in height, the work meets the definition of High Risk Construction Work (HRCW) under WHS Regulation 2025 section 291, mandating a documented Safe Work Method Statement before work commences. Additional HRCW triggers include work adjacent to trafficked areas, work in excavations, and any task generating hazardous dust. A SWMS is required by WHS Regulation 2025 r299 for every PCBU directing or controlling stone pitching activity, must be developed in consultation with workers under r47, retained for the duration of the work, and produced on request to an inspector or principal contractor.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

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

1. 1Elimination — Specify pre-cut, pre-dressed stone delivered to size from the quarry to remove all on-site cutting and chiselling wherever the design permits.
2. 2Elimination — Design retaining walls under 1.5 m where site conditions allow, removing HRCW trigger and the need for engineered batter or geotechnical certification.
3. 3Substitution — Replace dry powdered cement with pre-batched wet mortar or low-silica manufactured stone alternatives to reduce dust and chromate VI skin exposure.
4. 4Engineering — Use on-tool water suppression at minimum 0.5 L/min on all powered stone-cutting equipment in accordance with the Code of Practice for Managing the Risks of Respirable Crystalline Silica.
5. 5Engineering — Install H-class HEPA local exhaust ventilation on bench-mounted dressing stations and isolate cutting zones with polythene screens to prevent dust migration.
6. 6Engineering — Use mechanical lifting aids including stone tongs, vacuum lifters, mini-crane or excavator-mounted grabs for any stone exceeding 20 kg or with poor grip geometry.
7. 7Administrative — Implement two-person lift rule for stones 16–25 kg, rotate workers through cutting, lifting, and placement tasks every 90 minutes, and conduct daily pre-start SWMS review.
8. 8Administrative — Establish 3 m exclusion zone behind active wall faces with bunting and signage, and enforce traffic management plan compliant with AS 1742.3 for adjacent pedestrian routes.
9. 9PPE — Issue P2 half-face respirators (or PAPR for cutting tasks exceeding 30 minutes) fit-tested under AS/NZS 1715, plus impact-rated gloves, steel-capped boots, and Class 5 hi-vis.
10. 10PPE — Provide nitrile-lined chemical gloves for mortar handling, safety glasses to AS/NZS 1337.1, and Class 5 hearing protection during all powered cutting and chiselling operations.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

On a council parkland upgrade involving a 1.8 m sandstone retaining wall along a shared pedestrian path, the leading hand opens the Stone Pitching & Stone Walling SWMS at the 7:00 am pre-start huddle with three masons and a labourer. Working through the hazard register, the crew confirms that today's delivery includes 40 stones in the 25–60 kg range, triggering mandatory use of the excavator-mounted stone grab listed under engineering controls. The labourer raises that wind is forecast to gust from the path side; the supervisor amends the traffic management entry on the SWMS to extend bunting an additional 5 m upwind and reassigns one worker to spotter duties. Cutting will be required to dress three capstones, so the SWMS silica controls are reviewed — water-fed grinder, P2 fit-tested respirators, and a 6 m downwind exclusion zone — and the cutting station is relocated away from the path. Each worker signs on against the controls listed, confirming respirator fit-test currency and grab licensing. At 10:30 am a member of the public attempts to enter the work zone; the spotter halts cutting, the supervisor pauses work, annotates the SWMS field-change log noting the near-miss, and reinforces exclusion-zone discipline before work resumes. The signed SWMS is retained on site for the duration.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• Crystalline Silica — National Strategy + CoP

Frequently asked questions