Construction WHS management plan template: a site-specific starting point

Direct answer. In model WHS jurisdictions, the principal contractor for a construction project must prepare a written work health and safety (WHS) management plan before project work commences. The plan must identify people with specific safety responsibilities, describe consultation/cooperation/coordination between PCBUs, explain incident arrangements, state site-specific rules and how people are told about them, and set out how safe work method statements (SWMS) are collected, assessed, monitored and reviewed. The template below gives those subjects a usable home. It is a drafting aid, not a finished plan for an unnamed site. Safe Work Australia model WHS Regulations, regulation 309; model Construction Work Code.

The threshold for a “construction project” and the legal effect of model provisions depend on the relevant state or territory's enacted law. For example, WorkSafe Queensland describes its construction-project threshold as work costing $250,000 or more. Do not apply that Queensland figure automatically across Australia. Victoria uses a different OHS scheme and a health and safety coordination plan for applicable construction projects; use its official template and current law rather than relabeling this model-WHS form. Confirm jurisdiction, project value and principal-contractor appointment before relying on any template.

Copyable plan structure

Replace every bracketed field with real project information. The example control prompts are not site controls until the project team has checked they are suitable. Keep project-specific maps, registers and SWMS as controlled attachments rather than burying hundreds of pages in the plan.

1. Document control and project identity

Record the actual workplace, not just the head office. If construction happens inside an operating hospital, warehouse or school, identify the occupied interface and who has control of shared access, services and emergency arrangements.

2. Responsibilities and contact routes

Regulation 309 calls for names, positions and responsibilities of people with specific health and safety roles. A sentence saying “everyone is responsible” does not supply the contact and decision structure needed on a changing project. Model WHS Regulations, regulation 309.

3. Consultation, cooperation and coordination

Other PCBUs on site: [List each contractor, subcontractor, host business or utility contractor, scope and contact].

Routine coordination: [Daily pre-start, weekly interface meeting, look-ahead programme, plant and delivery booking, shared work zones, design/temporary-works change route].

Worker consultation: [How workers and their health and safety representatives, if any, raise hazards and comment on controls; how decisions are fed back].

Overlap rule: [Who checks when two trades occupy the same space, share lifting/traffic routes or depend on one another's isolation or handover].

Escalation and stop-work: [Who can halt an activity, who resolves the conflict, how the revised control reaches the workforce].

The plan should show the method of coordination, not merely list subcontractor names. For example, roofers and mechanical installers may each have a sound SWMS while their simultaneous work creates a falling-object interface. Say who sequences the activities, who controls the exclusion zone and how the change is briefed. The model Construction Work Code presents consultation, cooperation and coordination as a required plan subject. Safe Work Australia construction code.

4. Incident and emergency arrangements

Immediate response: [How workers summon help; first aid; rescue resources; service shut-off; site access for emergency responders].

Incident reporting line: [Worker to supervisor to project lead; phone numbers; after-hours contact].

Preservation and notification: [Who checks whether regulator notification and scene preservation rules apply under the local law; where the official regulator contact is stored].

Investigation and learning: [Who records facts, consults affected workers, assigns actions and checks whether controls worked].

Emergency interfaces: [Assembly points; occupied-building contacts; traffic gates; nearby public areas; high-risk rescue arrangements].

Do not copy a generic “call 000” paragraph and assume the site can be reached. A rescue plan for work at height or confined space requires competent, task-specific planning. The plan's incident section should point to the full emergency arrangements and make decision ownership clear. Legal notification thresholds and preservation duties must be checked against the relevant regulator; the template does not decide them.

5. Site-specific rules and how people learn them

Rules for this site: [Access and sign-in; induction; PPE tied to actual risks; pedestrian/plant separation; deliveries; exclusion zones; hot works; service isolation; work at height; environmental and occupier controls; security].

Exceptions: [How a changed method or urgent repair is authorised without silently bypassing controls].

Communication: [Which rules appear at entry, which are in induction, how visiting workers receive them, language/accessibility needs, and how revisions are briefed].

Evidence: [Induction record, revised site notice, meeting note or acknowledgment as appropriate].

The rule “follow all site rules” is not enough for a new contractor. Name the rules that determine how the job is performed, identify where the worker can find the current version and who explains changes. Under the model provisions the principal contractor must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that people carrying out construction work are aware of the plan's content and their right to inspect it. Model Construction Work Code, section 5.4.

6. SWMS collection, assessment, monitoring and review

Receipt: [How the principal contractor obtains each SWMS before high-risk construction work begins].

Assessment: [How the principal contractor checks that the described work, hazards and controls fit this project and the WHS management plan].

Monitoring: [Who checks the work against the SWMS in the field and what happens if it is not followed].

Revision: [Triggers such as a changed sequence, plant, site condition or failed control; how the revised version is rebriefed].

The presence of a PDF does not show that a task has been coordinated. Safe Work Australia's high-risk construction work guidance states that the PCBU doing the work must prepare, keep, comply with and review its SWMS and provide a copy to the principal contractor. The management plan should define how that information enters the site's control process without pretending that principal-contractor review transfers each trade's duty.

7. Project-specific attachments and review log

Attach only what the work needs: [site plan and exclusion zones], [emergency plan], [traffic management], [hazardous chemicals register or SDS location], [plant and lifting arrangements], [services information], [permit process], [licence/training verification], [SWMS index]. State the owner and version of each. These optional topics may also have separate legal requirements; attachment to the plan does not, by itself, satisfy them.

The principal contractor should review and revise the plan when project circumstances change. A reusable company template may speed drafting, but the model code says it must be reviewed for the specific project and workplace and revised as necessary. Model Construction Work Code, sections 5.3–5.5.

How to use this template without creating a paper-only plan

First, verify the local construction-project threshold and legal plan form. Then appoint the actual principal contractor and identify the people who will coordinate the project. Walk the site with the programme and contractor scopes. Complete the role, consultation, incident, site-rule and SWMS sections using real arrangements; leave no bracketed placeholders in the issued plan. Ask affected contractors and workers whether the procedures are workable before authorising the version.

Make the current plan accessible at the workplace and tell incoming workers which parts apply to their tasks. Keep an earlier version where it is needed to reconstruct decisions, but distinguish it clearly from the current version. Review the plan at mobilisation and when trades, design, access, emergency arrangements or significant controls change. A change should trigger communication, not just a file replacement.

The live Complys SWMS software page is the designated commercial destination for organising SWMS-related records. A separate existing construction WHS management-plan guide explains the broader plan duties. This template's role is to provide editable structure and decision prompts; the guide owns the general explainer. Do not publish product claims about automatic legal validation, principal-contractor appointment or regulator approval without implementation proof.

Source and claim register — checked 5 October 2026