Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has been running a statewide proactive compliance campaign since early 2026 specifically targeting the risk of falling objects on construction sites, with inspectors visiting sites and taking enforcement action where duties aren't being met. For Gold Coast builders working across the region's dense mix of high-rise, multi-residential and commercial fit-out projects, this is a hazard category that's getting sustained regulator attention.
Why falling objects specifically, and why now
Falling objects sit in an odd spot in a lot of site safety documentation. Working at heights gets significant attention, and rightly so, but the risk to workers and the public below the work, from dropped tools, materials, debris or formwork, doesn't always get the same level of detail. The campaign is focused on the activities where falling objects are most common: crane lifts, scaffolding, formwork, elevated work platforms, precast panels, and general material storage and housekeeping. A targeted statewide campaign signals that regulators have identified this as a gap worth closing.
For multi-storey and multi-trade Gold Coast sites, where several trades are often working at different heights on the same footprint at the same time, the exposure is higher than a single-trade site. That overlap is exactly what a proactive compliance campaign is likely to focus on.
Where falling object risk needs to show up in your SWMS
A Safe Work Method Statement for work at height should already address fall prevention for the worker doing the task. What often gets missed is the separate risk to anyone below or nearby. A properly built SWMS should specifically identify:
- Exclusion zones and how they're enforced while work is in progress
- Tool tethering or containment for work above pedestrian or trafficked areas
- Perimeter protection such as screens, catch platforms, or scaffold debris netting
- Coordination between trades working at different heights on the same structure at the same time
- Signage and physical barriers that are actually maintained, not just installed on day one
If your current SWMS mentions working at heights but doesn't separately address what happens to material and tools once they're up there, that's the exact gap this compliance campaign is likely to test.
What Gold Coast builders should check now
Before a proactive compliance visit lands on your site, it's worth reviewing your current SWMS library for any work at height activity, confirming exclusion zones are actually enforced on site and not just documented, and checking that principal contractors and subcontractors are coordinating on overlapping height work rather than managing it in isolation.
Whether that's a review of existing documents or new SWMS development for Gold Coast sites with multiple trades at height, the aim is the same: getting this right protects workers and the public, and it means a compliance visit becomes a formality rather than a finding.
Getting your SWMS reviewed
If you're not confident your current SWMS properly separates fall prevention from falling object risk, that's worth addressing before a WHSQ inspector does it for you.
Get in touch to talk through what a review of your site's SWMS would involve.