Most crane and lifting SWMS documents on Australian sites name the crane and the licence, then stop. The lift study sits in the crane hire office. The exclusion zone lives in the dogger’s head. Nobody has written down who can stop the lift.
That gap matters because a load in the air moves over people. A document that names a licensed operator without naming the load, the radius, the ground and the stop call describes the machine, not the lift.
So this post walks the lifting duties the WHS Regulations actually set, from the load chart to the stop-work call. It shows what a crane and lifting SWMS needs to record before the hook goes up.
What the WHS Regulations require of a crane and lifting SWMS
Section 19 of the WHS Act 2011 requires a PCBU to provide safe systems of work and safe plant. Section 27 requires officers to verify that those systems work. For cranes, the Regulations then spell out the detail.
Work carried out in an area where powered mobile plant moves is high risk construction work under Regulation 291(o). Consequently, Regulation 299 requires a SWMS before that work starts. Where the lift also creates a fall risk above two metres, Regulation 291(a) applies too.
However, the SWMS trigger is only the entry point. Regulation 219 governs plant that lifts or suspends loads, and it carries seven separate duties. Regulations 214 and 215 then cover the crane as powered mobile plant: overturning, falling objects, collision and operator protection.
Therefore a crane and lifting SWMS earns its keep by describing how the crew meets each duty for this lift. It names who plans the lift, who confirms the ground, who slings the load and who holds the zone. Above all, it names who can stop everything.
A licensed operator is not a planned lift
Regulation 81 prohibits high risk work without the matching licence class, and Schedule 3 sets out the classes. A slewing mobile crane up to 20 tonnes needs a C2 licence, up to 60 tonnes a C6 and up to 100 tonnes a C1. Above that, the open class C0 applies. Non-slewing cranes over three tonnes need a CN, and tower cranes a CT. Vehicle loading cranes of ten metre tonnes or more need a CV.
Dogging carries its own licence. Under Regulation 5, dogging work means applying slinging techniques, including selecting and inspecting the lifting gear. It also means directing the operator whenever the load sits out of view. In other words, the person on the ground holds a legal role, not a helper’s role.
Even so, a wallet full of licences proves competence to operate, not that anyone has planned this lift. Most crane and lifting SWMS documents copy the licence numbers into a table and treat the job as done. Instead, the licences are the starting condition. The plan is the control.
The lift study: load, radius and the chart
Regulation 219(4) requires every lift to stay within the safe working limits of the plant, using lifting attachments suited to the load. Neither test passes without numbers. The crew needs the load weight, the rigging weight, the working radius and the chart capacity for that crane in that configuration.
Notably, the chart capacity changes with every variable. Outrigger extension, boom length, counterweight and slewing sector all change the number. As a result, a lift study that reads 50 tonne crane, 4 tonne load, no problem has assessed nothing.
The model Code of Practice Cranes and AS 2550.1 treat lifts that approach the chart as a different category of work. Most head contractors call a lift critical where the load passes about 75 per cent of chart capacity. Two cranes, people in a work box or power lines nearby trigger the same label. A critical lift needs an engineered lift study.
A crane and lifting SWMS should therefore record four numbers: the load weight including rigging, the radius, the chart capacity at that radius and the resulting percentage. Those four numbers turn a claim into evidence.
Ground, outriggers and the crane and lifting SWMS
Regulation 214 requires the person with management or control of powered mobile plant to manage the risk of overturning. For a mobile crane, overturning almost always starts underneath the outriggers. Backfilled trenches, service pits, verge edges and wet ground all fail quietly.
Consequently, the plan should name the ground bearing assumption and the person who confirmed it. Outrigger pads and mats spread the load, but only where the crew has sized them for the outrigger load and the ground below. Where doubt exists, an engineer confirms the setup in writing.
Moreover, the crane sets up level, within the manufacturer’s tolerance, with outriggers fully extended unless the chart in use allows otherwise. That single line in the crane and lifting SWMS prevents the most common shortcut on tight sites: half outriggers with a full-outrigger chart.
Exclusion zones and spotters in the crane and lifting SWMS
Regulation 219(5) states that no load may travel over a person unless the plant has a specific design for it. Regulation 215(4) adds that the plant must not collide with pedestrians or other plant. The exclusion zone meets both duties on the ground.
The zone needs a defined boundary, a physical barrier or a spotter, and a named owner. Barrier mesh and a sign do not hold a zone once the concrete pump arrives. Instead, the SWMS names the spotter and states the radio channel or signal set. It also confirms that the operator stops slewing whenever a person enters the zone.
Likewise, the dogger’s authority needs writing down. The dogger controls the load and directs the operator by hand signal or radio. If the dogger calls stop, the operator stops, and no supervisor overrides that call. A crane and lifting SWMS that records this authority protects the dogger from pressure and the crew from the load.
Tag lines sit in the same section. Every load that can spin or swing gets a tag line, held by a worker outside the drop zone. That keeps the load under control, as Regulation 219(6) requires.
Wind, power lines and the stop-work call
Every crane load chart carries a wind limit, usually stated in metres per second. Above that limit, the chart no longer applies, and neither does the lift plan. The SWMS should state the limit, where the crew measures wind, and who reads it. An anemometer on the boom tip beats a guess from the cab.
Power lines carry their own no go zones, set by the network operator and the state electrical safety regulator. Where any part of the crane, the load or the rigging could enter that zone, the lift stops. It restarts only with written authority or once the network de-energises the line. A dedicated spotter is a control, but distance is a better one.
Finally, the plan names the stop-work triggers in advance. Wind above the limit, a person in the zone, a heavier load or a shift in the ground all stop the lift. So does a lost radio or a change of crane configuration. The crew then re-plans rather than pushes on.
Lifting people and dual lifts: the exceptions with their own rules
Two lifts deserve their own line in any crane and lifting SWMS. First, lifting people. Regulation 219(3) and Regulation 220 permit a crane to lift persons only in a work box securely attached to the crane. The occupants wear harnesses where a fall risk exists, and a means of safe exit must exist if the crane fails. The work box itself carries a rating, a tag and an inspection record.
Second, dual lifts. Regulation 219(7) prohibits lifting a load with more than one crane unless the method keeps the load on each crane within its design capacity. In practice, that means an engineered lift study, an intermediate rigging licence on the ground, and a single person in charge of the lift.
Registration, inspection and the crane and lifting SWMS records
Schedule 5 requires item registration for tower cranes, including self-erecting tower cranes, and for mobile cranes rated above ten tonnes. Regulation 235 then requires a major inspection at the end of the manufacturer’s design life or, failing that, every ten years. Under Regulation 237, the person with management or control keeps records of tests, inspections and maintenance for as long as they hold the plant.
Beneath those duties, Regulation 213 requires a competent person to maintain and inspect the plant. Lifting gear follows the same logic. Chains, slings, shackles and spreader bars carry a rated capacity, a tag and an inspection record, and the dogger checks each item before use.
So the pre-lift checklist asks for the plant registration number, the annual inspection sticker, the logbook entry for the day and the gear inspection. Those four records answer the first four questions an inspector asks after a dropped load.
Practical Application
Picture a 55 tonne slewing mobile crane lifting roof trusses onto a two-storey school extension. The crane sets up on a car park beside a backfilled stormwater trench, and the head contractor wants the trusses on by lunchtime.
Their crane and lifting SWMS starts with the study. The heaviest truss weighs 2,100 kilograms with rigging, and the furthest set lands at a 22 metre radius. The chart shows 3,400 kilograms at that radius on full outriggers. That puts the lift at 62 per cent of chart. The crew classifies it as standard, but records the number rather than the opinion.
Next comes the ground. The site engineer marks the trench line, and the crane relocates two metres so no outrigger sits over backfill. The crew then places timber mats under every pad and records the outrigger load from the manufacturer’s table. Meanwhile, the dogger, P. Taylor, inspects each chain sling, confirms the tags and sets the exclusion zone with a spotter at the pedestrian gate.
At ten thirty, the gust reading on the boom tip passes the chart limit. P. Taylor calls stop, the operator lowers the truss to the deck and the crew waits. The head contractor accepts the delay because the SWMS named the limit and the authority in advance. Nobody argues.
Six weeks later, an auditor asks how the crew planned the lifts. One checklist answers everything. It holds the load and chart numbers, the move off the trench, the mats, the licences and the gear inspection. It also holds the zone owner, the wind stop at ten thirty and the sign-off after the last truss landed.
Conclusion
Cranes punish documents that describe the machine instead of the lift. A strong crane and lifting SWMS names the load, the radius, the chart capacity, the ground and the gear. It also names the zone, the wind limit and the person who can stop the job. Each of those leaves evidence behind.
In other words, a licence proves the operator. A plan proves the lift. Record both and the audit takes minutes rather than a morning.
MiSAFE SWMS keeps that discipline inside the document itself. The AI drafts a complete, site-specific SWMS in minutes, and the author reviews and approves every field. Workers then sign on by QR code, so the supervisor sees live who has signed onto the current version before the first load leaves the ground.
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