When you need a SWMS
Under the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations, construction work that involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres is high-risk construction work. A Safe Work Method Statement must be prepared before that work starts, and the work must be done in line with it.
For glaziers that commonly means first-floor and higher windows, shopfronts and curtain walling worked from scaffold or a mobile elevating work platform, balustrades on balconies and stairwells, and overhead glazing. Other high-risk categories can apply too — for example work near traffic or powered mobile plant.
WHS laws are made by each state and territory. Most follow the model regulations; South Australia moved from a 3 metre to a 2 metre threshold on 1 July 2026. Check your own regulator's guidance — SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, WorkSafe Queensland and so on.
What a SWMS covers
- the high-risk construction work being done;
- the hazards and risks of that work;
- the control measures, and how they will be put in place, monitored and reviewed;
- written so the workers doing the job can follow it — and kept available on site.
A generic SWMS copied from job to job tends to miss what is different about this site: the access, the ground conditions, the size and weight of the panes, who else is working nearby.
Make the survey do the work
The person who surveys the job already knows how high the openings are, how you will get to them and what access equipment you will need. Capture it then — access level, photos of the elevation, notes on the ground and parking — and the SWMS for the fitting crew starts from facts rather than a blank template.
Where Coglass fits
Coglass keeps a risk assessment and method statement with each job. It is a record you fill in, not a state-specific SWMS template — check it against your regulator's requirements:
- A risk assessment and method statement on every job. Hazards, who is at risk and the controls, the method step by step, PPE, equipment and emergency notes — filled in on the desktop or the phone, and exported as a PDF. The equipment list is pre-filled from the access level recorded on the survey.
- Surveys on the phone. Each opening is measured, drawn and photographed, with notes, GPS and the access level — and it works with no signal, syncing when you are back in coverage.
- Scaffold and access hire priced properly. Set up scaffold, a tower or a MEWP as a hire item with a day rate; it is charged once per job, not per pane, and you can raise a hire order to the hire company.
Want to see it on your own jobs? Book a demo or see pricing in AUD.
Sources
This page explains the rules in general terms. Standards and tax rules change, and how they apply depends on the job — check the source, your building control body or your accountant before relying on it.