Infection Control SWMS (Healthcare)
Clinical infection-prevention controls. Covers standard precautions (hand hygiene, PPE, respiratory etiquette, safe injection), contact / droplet / airborne transmission-based precautions, aerosol-generating-procedure (AGP) P2 respiratory protection, environmental cleaning with TGA-listed disinfectants, and outbreak-response escalation.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Healthcare workers face daily exposure to bloodborne pathogens, multi-drug-resistant organisms, and airborne infectious agents including SARS-CoV-2, influenza, tuberculosis, and measles across acute, sub-acute, primary care, and residential aged care settings. This SWMS documents standard precautions, transmission-based precautions (contact, droplet, airborne), aerosol-generating procedure (AGP) respiratory protection, environmental cleaning with TGA-listed hospital-grade disinfectants, and outbreak-response escalation. Under WHS Regulation 2025 Part 3.1, a PCBU operating a healthcare facility must identify reasonably foreseeable biological hazards and implement controls following the hierarchy of control, with documented worker consultation. The NHMRC Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare (2019) establish the clinical benchmark, and state public-health legislation imposes mandatory notification duties for listed conditions. A SWMS is required because clinical care involves exposure to a biological hazard category with confirmed transmission consequences, and because P2/N95 respirator use is a controlled engineering and PPE intervention that demands fit-testing, training, and supervisory sign-off.
Hazards identified
7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Transmission of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or HIV requiring source testing, post-exposure prophylaxis, and serological follow-up
Worker infection, mandatory contact tracing, furlough, and potential nosocomial outbreak across the ward
Acute respiratory illness, sick leave, onward transmission to immunocompromised patients, ward closure
Patient colonisation or invasive infection, prolonged length of stay, mandatory clinical incident reporting
Conjunctival or mucous-membrane bloodborne pathogen exposure requiring source testing and prophylaxis assessment
Hand, face, or uniform contamination leading to worker infection or onward transmission to next patient
Persistent environmental reservoir driving ward outbreaks, mandatory deep-clean, and infection-prevention audit findings
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination — Defer non-urgent elective procedures on patients with active transmissible infection until infectious period resolves per NHMRC isolation duration guidance.
- 2Elimination — Eliminate sharps where clinically possible by using needle-free IV connectors, oral medication routes, and sutureless wound closure systems.
- 3Substitution — Substitute conventional hollow-bore needles with safety-engineered sharps incorporating passive or active retraction mechanisms compliant with AS/NZS 4031.
- 4Substitution — Substitute manual instrument reprocessing with automated washer-disinfectors and validated sterilisers meeting AS/NZS 4187 reprocessing standards.
- 5Engineering — Place suspected airborne cases in negative-pressure isolation rooms achieving minimum 12 air changes per hour with HEPA-filtered exhaust per AS 1668.2.
- 6Engineering — Install hands-free clinical handwash basins, alcohol-based hand rub dispensers at every point of care, and puncture-resistant sharps containers to AS 4031.
- 7Administrative — Apply the 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene, transmission-based precaution signage, daily PPE competency checks, and immediate sharps-injury reporting via the clinical incident system.
- 8Administrative — Conduct annual quantitative P2/N95 fit-testing per AS/NZS 1715, maintain immunisation records, and escalate outbreaks to the Infection Prevention Committee and state public-health unit.
- 9PPE — Don gloves, fluid-resistant gown, surgical mask, and eye protection for standard precautions; upgrade to fit-tested P2 respirator and face shield for AGPs.
- 10PPE — Use AS/NZS 1716-compliant P2 respirators, AS/NZS 1337.1 eye protection, and AS/NZS 4179 sterile surgical gloves, with structured donning and doffing under a trained spotter.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Requires PCBU to identify biological hazards, eliminate or minimise risk by hierarchy of control, and review controls after exposure incidents.
Sets standard and transmission-based precautions, hand hygiene moments, PPE selection, and reprocessing benchmarks adopted as the clinical standard of care.
Mandates fit-testing, training, and respiratory protection programs for P2/N95 respirators worn during aerosol-generating procedures and airborne precautions.
Specifies cleaning, disinfection, and sterilisation parameters for reusable instruments, environmental cleaning frequencies, and TGA-listed disinfectant use.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Clinical care involves direct contact with blood, body fluids, and aerosolised respiratory pathogens during procedures, satisfying the biological exposure trigger requiring documented controls.
PCBU must consult workers on biological risk controls, retain SWMS and exposure records for the statutory period, and notify serious infection incidents; penalties are substantial and indexed annually under the prevailing WHS schedule.
Who this is for
- →Infection prevention and control coordinators in public and private hospitals
- →Nurse unit managers in acute medical, surgical, and ICU wards
- →Residential aged care facility managers and clinical care leads
- →Primary care practice managers and community nursing service providers
What you receive
- ✓Editable DOCX template — Microsoft Word compatible
- ✓State-specific WHS legislation schedule (NSW/VIC/QLD/SA/WA/TAS/NT/ACT)
- ✓Hazard register with risk ratings + hierarchy-of-control mapping
- ✓Worker sign-on register, pre-start checklist, and incident escalation flow
Worked example
At a metropolitan tertiary hospital respiratory ward, the nurse unit manager runs the morning pre-start huddle as a patient is admitted with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis pending sputum AFB results. The team opens the Infection Control SWMS on the ward tablet and reviews the airborne precautions section. Hazard identification confirms two triggers: airborne M. tuberculosis transmission and a planned bronchoscopy classified as an AGP. Control selection follows the documented hierarchy — the patient is moved to the negative-pressure isolation room (engineering), entry is restricted to fit-tested staff with current P2 records cross-checked against the respiratory protection register (administrative), and a doffing spotter is rostered for every room exit (PPE). Each attending nurse, the registrar, the respiratory consultant, and environmental services staff sign the SWMS sign-on sheet acknowledging the controls. Mid-shift, the bronchoscopy is brought forward and a casual agency nurse arrives without a documented P2 fit-test record. The SWMS escalation pathway is triggered: the agency nurse is reassigned to non-airborne duties, and the resource nurse with current AS/NZS 1715 fit-testing is redeployed to assist. After the procedure, the room undergoes the SWMS-specified terminal clean with a TGA-listed chlorine-based disinfectant, and the incident of the missing fit-test record is logged for the Infection Prevention Committee review.
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 (model)
- WHS Regulation 2025
- AS/NZS 4031 — Non-reusable containers; Healthcare Worker WHS guidelines