SWMS Requirements in Western Australia

WA's work health and safety laws in 2026

Western Australia joined the harmonised work health and safety scheme through its own legislation: the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) and the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 (WA). Before that, WA ran its own occupational safety and health laws for decades, which is why older WA safety paperwork often looks different from what the east coast uses.

The practical effect of harmonisation is that SWMS duties in WA now line up closely with New South Wales, Queensland and most other jurisdictions. The duty holder is the PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking), which covers companies, sole traders and self-employed subcontractors alike. The regulator is WorkSafe WA, which inspects construction sites, asks to see SWMS documents, and can issue improvement and prohibition notices where the paperwork or the work practices fall short.

If you are a WA tradie still working off documents written for the old OSH regime, they need updating. The current regulations use different terminology, different duty holders and different provision numbers, and an inspector will expect your SWMS to reference the legislation that actually applies today.

When a SWMS is required in WA: Reg 291

A SWMS is required whenever you carry out high risk construction work (HRCW). Regulation 291 of the WHS (General) Regulations 2022 (WA) defines HRCW as 18 activities, listed in paragraphs (a) through (r), matching the model WHS Regulations used in the harmonised states.

The activities that most commonly trigger a SWMS on WA sites include:

• Work where a person could fall more than 2 metres
• Demolition of a load-bearing or otherwise structural element
• Work that disturbs asbestos
• Work in or near a confined space
• Excavation of a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 metres, or tunnelling
• Work on or near energised electrical installations or services
• Work on or near pressurised gas mains or piping, or chemical, fuel or refrigerant lines
• Tilt-up or precast concrete work
• Work on, in or adjacent to a road, railway or other traffic corridor
• Work in an area with movement of powered mobile plant
• Work in or near water where there is a risk of drowning

What Reg 299 says your SWMS must contain

Regulation 299 sets out the mandatory content. Every SWMS must identify the work that is high risk construction work, specify the hazards relating to that work and the risks to health and safety, describe the measures to be implemented to control those risks, and describe how the control measures are to be implemented, monitored and reviewed. Those four elements are the legal minimum, and they are the first things an inspector checks.

The SWMS must also be prepared with regard to the circumstances at the workplace itself, things like adjacent activities, weather exposure, and underground or overhead services. If the work is part of a larger construction project, the SWMS must take account of the principal contractor's WHS management plan. And it must be readily accessible and understandable to the workers who use it: a generic document nobody on site has read does not meet the test.

There is one extra rule for fall work. If a SWMS for work involving a fall risk of more than 2 metres relies only on administrative controls or PPE, it must describe all the control measures that were considered, effectively justifying why higher-order controls such as scaffolding or edge protection were not used.

Compliance, review and record keeping

Preparing the document is only half the duty. The high risk construction work must actually be carried out in accordance with the SWMS, and if it is not, work must stop until the SWMS is followed or revised. WA's regulations mirror the model numbering here, so the duties tradies know from the east coast as regulations 300 to 303 carry the same numbers in the WHS (General) Regulations 2022 (WA).

On a construction project, the principal contractor must be given a copy of the SWMS before the high risk construction work starts, which is why builders chase subcontractors for SWMS documents during onboarding. The SWMS must also be reviewed, and revised if necessary, whenever the work, the controls or the site conditions change in a way that affects safety.

Record keeping sits in Regulation 303: the SWMS must be kept until the high risk construction work is completed, and if a notifiable incident occurs in connection with the work, it must be kept for at least 2 years after the incident. Keep a copy available for inspection during that time, either on site or readily retrievable.

How WA compares with the other states

Because WA adopted the harmonised framework, a SWMS prepared for NSW or Queensland work is structurally very similar to what WA requires. The main differences are the names of the Act and Regulations you cite and the regulator you deal with. Victoria is the outlier: it never joined the national scheme and runs its own OHS legislation with different provision numbers and a different duty holder.

Getting your WA SWMS sorted

Start by working out which of the 18 HRCW activities your job actually involves, then make sure your SWMS covers the four mandatory content elements from Reg 299 and is tailored to the specific site. Have workers read and sign it before the high risk work starts, keep it accessible on site, and review it whenever the job changes. Referencing the correct WA legislation, the WHS Act 2020 (WA) and the WHS (General) Regulations 2022 (WA), signals to builders and WorkSafe WA inspectors that your paperwork is current.

If you would rather not build documents from scratch, GSR offers 753 editable Word safety documents across 22 trades and 7 document types, with SWMS from $79.95 and JSAs from $19.95. Every document cites the relevant WHS provisions and AS/NZS standards, and being editable Word files, you can adapt them to your site and your state before anyone signs on.

Western Australia at a glance

Related guides

• What Is a SWMS? Safe Work Method Statements Explained
• High Risk Construction Work: The Full List of 18 HRCW Activities
• SWMS Legal Requirements: Sections 299 to 303 Explained
• SWMS Requirements in NSW: What the Law Says