Garage Door Installation — Safe Work Method Statement

Installing a residential garage door is not usually High Risk Construction Work. The work is done from ladders at a typical garage head height, and openers plug into an existing power point. A SWMS is not legally required for a standard job, but it is good practice, and builders almost always ask for one before installers come on site. The job becomes HRCW if you work where a fall could be more than 2 metres, such as a high commercial door or a garage over a drop, or if you work on fixed wiring. Commercial doors and large industrial roller shutters should have their own risk assessment.

The springs are the hazard that causes the worst injuries. Torsion springs on sectional doors and the spring inside a roller door drum store enough energy to break bones and cause head injuries when released without control. Only use winding bars of the correct diameter that fit fully into the winding cone, never screwdrivers or other substitutes, and keep your body and head out of the path of the bar. Extension springs on tilt and some sectional doors must have a safety cable through the spring so a broken spring cannot fly across the garage. When removing an old door, release the spring tension before you undo anything else, and assume a broken or rusty spring can let go at any moment.

The door itself is heavy. Sectional panels, tilt doors and roller door curtains are awkward to lift and can fall if tracks, brackets or drums are not secured. Plan two-person lifts, use stands or props, and never stand under a door that is not fully supported. Panel hinges, rollers and cables create pinch points for fingers.

Fixing tracks and brackets means drilling into brick, block or concrete, which produces silica dust. Older garages may have fibro linings or eaves that contain asbestos, so check before drilling or removing them. Opener force and auto-reverse settings must be set and tested to the manufacturer's instructions so the door stops and reverses when it meets an obstruction. If there is no power point near the opener, a licensed electrician must install one.

Customise this template with the door type and size, the spring system and tension required, the opener model, the existing door to be removed and its spring condition, the wall and lintel construction, any asbestos assessment for older buildings, the ladders and lifting aids to be used, and how the owner will be shown the manual release and safety features.