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Roofing · Australia

SWMS for roof leak repair

By Safety PaperworkBuilt from Safe Work Australia and state regulator guidance · How we write and check theseUpdated

Yes. Roof leak repair usually includes high risk construction work (risk of a person falling more than 2 metres), so a SWMS is required by law before work starts.

It must list the hazards, the controls and how they will be put in place, monitored and reviewed, and the workers must be consulted and sign before starting. The main hazards are falling from a roof edge, falling through a fragile roof or skylight, disturbing asbestos and electric shock from live wiring.

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SWMS example: roof leak repair

This is a complete SWMS for roof leak repair, with 6 job steps. Open it in the builder to add your site, crew and signatures, change anything, and download a PDF. Or download the free Word template below and fill it in by hand.

Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)
Roof repair and leak repair · Roofing · Example
Document SWMS-001 · Rev 1

High risk construction work covered

Risk of a person falling more than 2 metres

Job steps, hazards and controls

#Job stepHazardsRisk beforeControlsRisk after
1Check the roof type and condition from the ground, looking for brittle sheets, skylights and asbestos
  • Falling through a fragile roof or skylight
  • Disturbing asbestos
Extreme
  • Work from underneath or from an EWP so nobody stands on the fragile roof. Eliminate
  • Cover or guard every skylight and fragile sheet with a fixed, marked cover or mesh before work starts. Isolate
  • Install safety mesh under new roof sheeting, and use crawl boards or staging to spread the load on fragile surfaces. Engineering
  • Use fall arrest on rated anchors when working near fragile areas. Engineering
  • Treat all roof sheets as fragile until a competent person confirms they are not. Old fibre cement and plastic sheets are fragile. Administrative
  • Put "Fragile roof" signs at every roof access point. Administrative
  • Never walk on sheets between purlins or along skylights. Stay on boards or staging. Administrative
  • Wear a full body harness clipped to a rated anchor. PPE
  • Before work, check the asbestos register (workplaces built before 2004). For homes, or if there is no register, have a competent person identify asbestos or assume it is present. Eliminate
  • Seal off the work area and keep everyone else out. Isolate
  • If asbestos must be disturbed, keep it wet, use hand tools not power tools, and clean up with an H-class vacuum. Engineering
  • Friable asbestos (Class A) and more than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos (Class B) must be removed by a licensed removalist. Administrative
  • Stop work straight away if you find suspect asbestos. Do not touch it and tell your supervisor. Administrative
  • Wear a fitted P2 (or better) respirator and disposable coveralls. PPE
Medium
2Set up a secured ladder and edge protection or a harness and anchor
  • Falling from a ladder
  • Falling from a roof edge
Extreme
  • Use a platform ladder, mobile scaffold or EWP for longer jobs instead of a straight ladder. Substitute
  • Use industrial-rated ladders (AS/NZS 1892, 120 kg or more) in good condition. Remove any damaged ladder from site. Engineering
  • Set extension ladders at a 4 to 1 angle on firm, level ground, tied or footed, and reaching 1 metre above the landing. Engineering
  • Use ladders only for short, light work. Do not carry heavy or awkward loads up a ladder. Administrative
  • Keep three points of contact and your belt buckle between the stiles. Do not overreach. Administrative
  • Do not stand on the top three rungs of an extension ladder or the top step of a stepladder. Administrative
  • Check the ladder before each use: feet, rungs, stiles and locks. Administrative
  • Wear non-slip safety boots with clean soles. PPE
  • Do what you can from the ground or from a scaffold at the gutter line, for example pre-assemble parts on the ground. Eliminate
  • Install edge protection or guardrails on all open roof edges before work starts. Isolate
  • Use a perimeter scaffold with handrails and toe boards along the eaves where practical. Engineering
  • Where guardrails cannot be fitted, use fall restraint on certified roof anchors so workers cannot reach the edge. Engineering
  • Only workers briefed on this SWMS go on the roof. Stop and review the SWMS if the roof, weather or method changes. Administrative
  • Use one safe, controlled access point and keep others off the roof. Administrative
  • Stop roof work in strong wind or rain, and when the roof is wet, icy or covered in dust or frost. Administrative
  • Have a written emergency and rescue plan, tested before work starts, for any worker using a harness (WHS Regulations r.80). Administrative
  • Wear a harness clipped to a rated anchor when using restraint or fall arrest, and soft-soled non-slip boots. PPE
Medium
3Go into the roof space to find the leak, watching for live cables and weak ceiling joists
  • Electric shock from live wiring
  • Falling through a floor opening or void
  • Heat stress
  • Bites and stings
Extreme
  • Isolate the power before any work. Do not do live work except in the limited cases the WHS Regulations allow (r.157; in Qld, the Electrical Safety Regulation 2013). Eliminate
  • Lock out and tag the isolation point with your own personal lock and danger tag. Isolate
  • Test before you touch: prove dead at the point of work with a voltage tester, proving the tester on a known live source before and after (AS/NZS 4836). Engineering
  • Only licensed electricians do electrical work. Administrative
  • Cover every hole and penetration with a fixed, secured cover marked "HOLE" or "DANGER". Isolate
  • Put guardrails with toe boards around stairwells, lift shafts, voids and open edges. Isolate
  • Install stairs early and fit temporary handrails as soon as they go in. Engineering
  • Never remove a cover or guardrail without approval. Put it back straight away. Administrative
  • Schedule heavy work for the cooler part of the day. Eliminate
  • Provide shade over work and rest areas, and fans or cooling in roof spaces. Engineering
  • Supply cool drinking water close by and drink a cup every 15 to 20 minutes. Administrative
  • Take regular rest breaks in the shade, more often as it gets hotter. Administrative
  • Check work areas before starting, and get pest control to remove nests. Eliminate
  • Look before you reach into dark spaces. Administrative
  • Ask owners to keep pets away from the work area. Administrative
  • Know who has allergies and keep their medication, such as an adrenaline auto-injector, close by. Administrative
  • Know snake bite first aid: pressure immobilisation bandage, keep still and call 000. Administrative
Medium
4Replace cracked tiles, sheets or flashings and seal joints
  • Cuts from sharp edges
  • Hazardous chemicals
  • Slips and trips
Medium
  • Deburr or cover sharp edges, and fit edge protectors on exposed sheet metal. Engineering
  • Use knives with retractable or self-retracting blades. Engineering
  • Cut away from your body and keep your other hand clear. Administrative
  • Put used blades in a blade bin or sharps container. Administrative
  • Use two people to handle large sheets of metal or glass. Administrative
  • Choose the least harmful product that does the job, for example water-based instead of solvent-based. Substitute
  • Use chemicals in well-ventilated areas, or use fans and extraction in closed rooms. Engineering
  • Read the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) before use and keep a register of hazardous chemicals on site. Administrative
  • Keep chemicals in labelled containers. Never decant into drink bottles. Administrative
  • Store chemicals away from heat, food and drink, and keep products that react with each other apart. Administrative
  • Plan walkways and keep them clear of materials, hoses and leads. Eliminate
  • Run leads and hoses overhead on hooks or stands, or along walls, not across walkways. Engineering
  • Fill or cover holes, and lay boards or mats on muddy access paths. Engineering
  • Clean up offcuts, packaging and spills as you go, not at the end of the day. Administrative
  • Keep work areas, stairs and access paths well lit. Administrative
Medium
5Use heat for flashings only with a hot work permit and a fire extinguisher at hand
  • Fire from hot works
  • Burns from hot surfaces
Extreme
  • Use cold work methods where you can, such as bolting, press fittings or cutting with a saw instead of a torch. Eliminate
  • Move anything that can burn at least 15 metres away (AS 1674.1), or protect it with fire blankets or screens. Isolate
  • Use fire-resistant screens to stop sparks reaching people or gaps in walls and floors. Engineering
  • Get a hot work permit before starting. Administrative
  • Keep a charged fire extinguisher and fire blanket at the work spot. Administrative
  • Keep a fire watch during the work and for at least 60 minutes after you finish. Administrative
  • Check for smouldering behind walls, in ceilings and under floors before you leave. Administrative
  • Wear flame-resistant clothing, welding gloves and eye or face protection. PPE
  • Isolate heating systems and let parts cool before you touch them. Eliminate
  • Fit guards or insulation on hot pipes and equipment. Engineering
  • Mark hot items with chalk or a "HOT" sign so others know. Administrative
  • Keep a first aid kit and cool running water nearby for burns. Administrative
  • Wear heat-resistant gloves and long sleeves. PPE
Medium
6Clean up debris, check gutters are clear and remove the ladder
  • Poor housekeeping and waste
  • Falling tools and materials
High
  • Order materials to size and send packaging back where you can. Eliminate
  • Put skip bins and waste chutes close to the work. Engineering
  • Clean as you go, and do a full clean up at the end of each day. Administrative
  • Keep exits, stairs and walkways clear at all times. Administrative
  • Stack materials neatly on level ground, away from edges. Administrative
  • Wear gloves when handling waste. PPE
  • Barricade and sign the drop zone under overhead work so nobody walks beneath. Isolate
  • Fit toe boards, kick plates and mesh screens on scaffolds and edges. Engineering
  • Use catch fans, debris netting or covered walkways where people pass below. Engineering
  • Tether hand tools when working at height. Engineering
  • Keep platforms tidy. Do not stack materials near edges or above toe board height. Administrative
  • Lower materials with a hoist, chute or rope. Never throw or drop anything down. Administrative
  • Wear a hard hat anywhere objects could fall. PPE
Medium

PPE

Steel cap bootsSafety harness and lanyardWork glovesSafety glassesSun protection (brim hat, long sleeves, SPF 50+)Hard hatHalf-face respirator (P2 or P3 filters)OverallsCut-resistant glovesChemical-resistant gloves (nitrile)Safety gogglesWelding glovesFace shield

Plant and equipment

Extension ladderHand toolsLPG gas torch

Permits and plans

Roof access permitWorking at heights permitHot work permit

Emergency

Call 000. Add the nearest hospital, the assembly point and the first aider for your site.

Sign-off

Supervisor and every worker sign to confirm they have read and understood this SWMS.

Free SWMS template for roof leak repair

Word (.docx) and PDF, A4 landscape, no email needed. Fill in your site details, then print or send it.

Word template (.docx)PDF template

Make yours in 2 minutes

Same document, filled in for your job. Answer a few yes or no questions, the crew signs on the phone, and you send the PDF.

Start this SWMS

Pre-start checklist for roof leak repair

Tick these off before work starts. They come from the hazards, permits and equipment in this job.

The safe sequence of work

  1. Check the roof type and condition from the ground, looking for brittle sheets, skylights and asbestos
  2. Set up a secured ladder and edge protection or a harness and anchor
  3. Go into the roof space to find the leak, watching for live cables and weak ceiling joists
  4. Replace cracked tiles, sheets or flashings and seal joints
  5. Use heat for flashings only with a hot work permit and a fire extinguisher at hand
  6. Clean up debris, check gutters are clear and remove the ladder

Hazards to watch on roof leak repair

The hazards most specific to this job, and the step where each one comes up.

Step 3Bites and stingsSnakes, spiders, wasps and bees in roof spaces, under floors and in long grass bite or sting workers.
Step 1Falling through a fragile roof or skylightA worker steps on a skylight, clear sheet or old fibre cement roof and falls through to the floor below.
Step 5Burns from hot surfacesTouching hot pipes, tools, bitumen, solder or freshly welded metal burns the skin.
Step 5Fire from hot worksSparks and heat from welding, grinding or flame torches set fire to timber, insulation, rubbish or fuel nearby.
Step 2Falling from a roof edgeA worker slips or walks off the edge of a roof or gutter line and falls to the ground.
Step 3Heat stressHard work in hot weather or hot roof spaces causes heat exhaustion or heat stroke, which can kill.
Almost certainLikelyPossibleUnlikelyRareHow bad it could be: Insignificant to CatastrophicBA
Highest risk on roof leak repair: Extreme before controls (B), down to Medium after controls (A), on the Australia 5 by 5 risk matrix (likely and catastrophic becomes unlikely and major).

What changes on your site

This example covers the job itself. Your site may add more. Add controls for any of these that apply (the builder asks you these as yes or no questions):

  • Will anyone work more than 2 metres off the ground?
  • Will anyone work on a roof?
  • Will you use a scaffold or mobile tower?
  • Will you use an EWP (scissor lift or boom lift)?
  • Will you sand, scrape, cut or heat paint on a building built before 1997?

Licences and legal requirements in Australia

This task can involve these high risk construction work categories under the WHS Regulations:

  • Risk of a person falling more than 2 metres

A SWMS must be prepared before any high risk construction work starts. It must list the high risk work, the hazards and risks, the control measures, and how those controls will be put in place, monitored and reviewed. It must be easy for the workers to read and understand.

Rules that apply: WHS Regulation 2011, Part 4.4 Falls; WHS Regulations, Chapter 8 (Asbestos); WHS Regulation 2011, Part 4.7 General electrical safety; WHS Regulation 2011, Chapter 7 Hazardous chemicals; AS 1674.1 Safety in welding and allied processes (fire precautions); WHS Regulation 2011, Part 3.2 (falling objects).

Each state has its own regulator and some extra rules: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Australian Capital Territory.

Why SWMS get rejected

Principal contractors send documents back for these reasons. This example avoids them, but check yours too.

  • It is generic: another site address, tasks that are not on this job, or no sign it was reviewed for this site. WorkSafe WA says a generic SWMS may not meet the regulations unless it is reviewed and amended for the workplace.
  • The HRCW boxes are not ticked, or the ticks do not match the tasks (for example a roof job with no falls box ticked).
  • Falls are controlled only by "be careful", training or a harness, with no edge protection or scaffold and no reason why higher controls are not reasonably practicable.
  • Workers will clip on to a harness but there is no rescue plan for someone left hanging.
  • The "how controls are implemented, monitored and reviewed" part is missing, or it says the same thing on every row.
  • No worker sign-on, no person responsible for compliance, or a date given to the principal contractor that is before they actually received it.
  • Licence or White Card details are missing for workers operating plant or doing licensed high risk work.

Questions

Do I need a SWMS for roof leak repair?

Yes. Roof leak repair usually includes high risk construction work (risk of a person falling more than 2 metres), so a SWMS is required by law before work starts.

Who signs the SWMS?

The person conducting the business (PCBU) or their supervisor prepares it with the workers, and every worker doing the high risk work signs to show they were consulted and understand it. Give a copy to the principal contractor before work starts.

How long do I keep it?

Keep this SWMS, and every revised version, until the high risk construction work is finished, where workers and inspectors can see it on site. If a notifiable incident happens during the work, keep it for at least 2 years after the incident.

What PPE is needed for roof leak repair?

Usually Steel cap boots, Safety harness and lanyard, Work gloves, Safety glasses, Sun protection (brim hat, long sleeves, SPF 50+), Hard hat, Half-face respirator (P2 or P3 filters), Overalls, Cut-resistant gloves, Chemical-resistant gloves (nitrile), Safety goggles, Welding gloves, Face shield. The site rules may add more, so check with the principal contractor.

More roofing SWMS

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Toolbox talks for this job

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Blank SWMS template: free SWMS templates. Also for other countries: United Kingdom (RAMS) · United States (JHA) · Canada (FLHA)

Sources