Product Overview

This Brick Manufacturing SWMS is a site-ready Safe Work Method Statement designed to identify hazards, assess risks, and implement effective controls across all stages of brick and clay production. It is a comprehensive document that covers multiple aspects of brick manufacturing operations to support robust WHS compliance and safer workflows in Australian facilities.

Activities & Specific Tasks Covered

This document includes specific risk controls for:

• Safe operation, guarding, and isolation of brick air presses, including pressure management and maintenance controls
• Handling of clay and bricks through extruders and Freymatic cutters, including nip-point protection and emergency stop systems
• Operation of Bickley kilns for brick firing, including heat stress controls, hot surface protection, and combustion risk management
• Use of Bradley wet presses for clay forming, with controls for entanglement, crushing, and manual handling risks
• Safe use and maintenance of brick dipping tanks, including chemical handling, splash protection, and confined space considerations
• Operation of brick friction presses, including guarding of moving parts and lockout/tagout procedures during maintenance
• Set-up, operation, and cleaning of Hampton extruders, with controls for dust exposure, noise, and mechanical hazards
• Programming and operation of brick pack unloading robots, including exclusion zones, interlocks, and collision prevention
• Use of brick pallet wrapping machines, including pinch-point controls, safe loading and unloading, and film-cutting procedures
• Operation and cleaning of brick pug mills, including isolation procedures, entanglement prevention, and dust suppression
• Manual and mechanical setting of green product, covering ergonomic handling, stacking stability, and use of lifting aids
• Use of Wallbank presses for brick forming, including safe start-up, shutdown, and maintenance access controls
• Operation of Welko presses, including pressure system safety, guarding, and operator training requirements
• Control of respirable crystalline silica and clay dust during mixing, forming, cutting, and finishing processes
• Traffic and pedestrian management around kilns, presses, robots, and palletising areas, including forklift interaction controls

Who is this for?

This SWMS is designed for brick and clay product manufacturers, kiln and press operators, maintenance teams, plant managers, and site supervisors overseeing automated and manual brick production processes.

Specific Job Steps & Hazards Covered

Legislation & References

This document was researched and developed to align with:

• Model Code of Practice: How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks – Guidance on identifying hazards, assessing risks, and implementing controls in brick manufacturing environments
• Model Code of Practice: Managing the Work Environment and Facilities – Requirements for ventilation, amenities, lighting, and safe access around kilns, presses, and production lines
• Model Code of Practice: Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace – Safe use, guarding, and maintenance of presses, extruders, robots, wrapping machines, and pug mills
• Model Code of Practice: Hazardous Manual Tasks – Controls for lifting, stacking, and handling bricks, pallets, and green product
• Model Code of Practice: Managing the Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace – Safe storage and handling of chemicals used in dipping tanks, cleaning, and kiln operations
• Model Code of Practice: Managing the Risks of Respirable Crystalline Silica from Engineered Stone in the Workplace – Applied principles for controlling silica and clay dust exposure in brick and clay manufacturing
• AS/NZS 4024 (Safety of machinery) – Guidance for machinery guarding, emergency stops, and safety control systems on presses, cutters, and automated plant
• AS 3788 (Pressure equipment – In-service inspection) – Inspection and safety requirements relevant to pressure-based brick presses and associated equipment
• Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• Work Health and Safety Regulations 2017