What is a SWMS, and does your stand build need one?

A SWMS (safe work method statement) is a short safety document. It lists the risky tasks in a job, what could go wrong, and how the team will keep people safe. You'll most often need one for bump-ins, because many venues and shopping centres require one as standard practice before your stand or display goes up.

There are two reasons you might need one. The law requires a SWMS for a short list of high risk tasks, such as working where someone could fall more than 2 metres. And venues, organisers and centres often ask for one in their own rules, whatever the task. For lower risk set-ups, many ask for a risk assessment instead. Either way, the installer writes it for their own team, and you make sure it's ready before the venue's deadline. We are highly experienced in preparing this documentation, so we will typically submit it on your behalf if we are managing the installation.

SWMS or risk assessment: what's the difference?

• SWMS. Covers the high risk tasks in a job: what they are, what could go wrong and how the risks will be controlled.
• Risk assessment. A wider look at what could go wrong across the whole set-up. In Safe Work Australia's words, it "involves looking at what could happen if someone is exposed to a hazard and the likelihood of it happening".
• Job safety analysis (JSA). Like a risk assessment, but for one specific task.

Whichever document a venue asks for, the people doing the work still have to work safely. The paperwork shows how they will.

When will you need a SWMS?

When a task is high risk. Safe Work Australia lists the high risk tasks that need one. Three can come up when setting up an event:

• working where someone could fall more than 2 m, such as fitting a header on a tall wall or building a double-deck stand
• working near moving forklifts or other powered mobile plant, for example at the loading dock
• working on or near live electrical installations.

When the venue, organiser or centre asks for one. Many do, whatever the task. Their manual sets the rule, so read it early.

If you're not sure what your set-up needs, ask the venue or organiser first. Your state's work health and safety regulator can also help.

Who writes it?

The business doing the work writes the SWMS or risk assessment for its own crew. If an installer sets up your stand, that's the installer. Safe Work Australia's information sheet says the person carrying out the high risk work "is best placed to prepare the SWMS".

You and the venue still play a part:

• Exhibitors. Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) says exhibitors "must ensure that those engaged to undertake work on their stand are competent and have undertaken a suitable and sufficient Risk Assessment".
• Organisers. Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) says organisers "are required to assess the risks associated with their event".
• The venue. ICC Sydney says it "reviews and authorises risk assessments and safe work method statements (SWMSs), and monitors the control measures during the event".

A copy from another job isn't enough. Safe Work Australia warns that a SWMS used at different workplaces "may not meet the requirements of the WHS laws" unless it's reviewed for each site, so it should name the venue and the actual tasks.

What venues ask for

These are from the venues' own published manuals, downloaded on 4 October 2026. Your organiser's manual can add more.

• ICC Sydney: anyone doing high risk work must complete an induction before move-in. Welding and hot works need a permit backed by "a risk assessment and Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)". Operating machinery on a stand needs ICC Sydney's permission and a risk assessment.
• BCEC Brisbane: two-storey custom stands are approved only after the contractor provides "an engineering certificate, Job Safety Analysis or Safe Work Method Statement".
• GCCEC Gold Coast: a SWMS for high risk work, and for low risk work "either a Risk Assessment, Job Safety Analysis, Safe Work Procedure, Standard Operating Procedure, or other Work Instruction". Contractors also provide public liability insurance of $20 million and a Work Cover certificate of currency. Exhibitors submit a pre-event health and safety checklist at least 21 days before the event.
• Adelaide Convention Centre: "ACC reserves the right to request the SWMS for the stand at any time". Two-storey stands need one before ACC will approve them.

Organisers ask too. At the last Sydney Build expo, held at ICC Sydney, space-only exhibitors were required to submit their reviewed stand permit "together with your stand plans and risk assessment". Shopping centres set their own rules for anyone installing a display, and our guide to shopping centre activation paperwork covers what they ask for. For the venue rules that shape the stand itself (heights, rigging, test and tag), see our comparison of Australian convention centre stand rules.

What a good SWMS covers

A SWMS should:

1. list the high risk tasks
2. set out what could go wrong
3. describe how the team will control those risks
4. say how the controls will be put in place, checked and reviewed.

Safe Work Australia's information sheet says a SWMS "should be short", because a long one is hard to follow on site.

What to ask your installer for

Send this list with your brief, so the paperwork is ready before the venue's deadline:

• A SWMS for any high risk tasks, naming the venue and the tasks.
• A risk assessment or JSA for everything else, such as unloading, assembling frames and hanging graphics.
• A public liability certificate of currency and a workers compensation certificate. Check the amount your venue asks for.
• Engineering certificates where the venue asks for them, for example for two-storey stands.
• Confirmation that every crew member has done any induction the venue requires.
• Any permits the set-up needs, such as hot works or a delivery notice for an elevating work platform.

This page is general information, not legal advice. For your own event, check the venue or organiser's manual first.

If all this sounds a bit complicated, it can be! This is where we can help. If we're setting up your stand, our installation and pack-down crew deals with the organiser for you, and knows the venues and their rules across Australia and New Zealand. For a custom exhibition stand or a brand activation, your project manager is the single point of contact for timelines and venue requirements.

Got a show or an activation coming up? Call us on 1300 240 250 and tell us which venue it's at.