SafeWork NSW's woodchipper guide: what its ten chapters say, with the HSE infeed chute sheet

This page reports what the named codes, regulators and makers say. It is not training and does not teach the work. This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It sets out how the SafeWork NSW Woodchipper guide, catalogue number SW09408, is laid out and what each of its ten chapters says about trailer-mounted hand-fed wood chippers, with a short comparison to one HSE information sheet. It does not replace the guide and adds no talk of its own. All pages were read on October 9, 2026. The courses that teach the work are in the guides on chainsaw tickets and certifications by country.

The source

The state regulator publishes a guide titled Woodchipper guide, which calls itself a guide for employers and workers on controlling or eliminating certain risks of a trailer-mounted hand-fed wood chipper. It lists the hazards it has in mind: being drawn in by the in-feed rollers, touching the blades, tangling in branches or attached ropes, being struck by ejected material, by in-feeding branches or by kicking wood, crush injuries, noise, being hit by a passing vehicle when the chipper is parked on the road, and manual handling. It cites the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 at several points, and its references include the Safe Work Australia guide to managing risks of tree trimming and removal work, a WorkSafe New Zealand fact sheet and an HSE sheet.

What each chapter says

Chapter	What the guide says in it
Introduction	The hazard list above, and that chippers are used where the tree was trimmed or felled because moving whole branches is harder. It notes that industrial chippers can have horizontal or vertical in-feed rollers and that incidents have involved these types
Machine safeguards	The rotating in-feed rollers and cutting disc or drum are the most hazardous parts. It quotes the Regulation on guarding: a fixed barrier, an interlocked barrier, a barrier removed only with tools, or a presence-sensing system where those are not reasonably practicable. It says an un-clutched disc or drum can take up to five minutes to run down
Operator control devices	An emergency stop that stops the rollers and cuts power to the disc, tested at each pre-start check. A control bar with reverse, neutral or stop, and feed positions. Bump bars along the bottom of the chute, painted red, a drop-down table with side panels, a safety curtain that is kept in repair, last chance stops (which the guide says may not work alone if the worker is entangled) and presence-sensing systems. Chippers without an in-feed stop, or with a chute tray lower than 600 mm, are run by two operators. Winch ropes and chains are kept from the rollers
Operator roles	A nominated wood-chipper operator who is competent, sets up the site, the danger zone and any public exclusion zone, stays within 1 m of the control device and bump bar, and does not leave the machine unattended. The danger zone ends at the outer edge of the drop-down table and bump bar. The feed area extends beyond it. Branches are fed from the side of the table, and the machine is stopped if a worker breaches the feed area. Teams have at least two competent people
Work site	Clearance between the chipper and the drop zone so climbing or lowering ropes cannot tangle. Parking off the road where possible, otherwise traffic management with signs, cones, amber lights and trained, high-visibility controllers. An exclusion zone with signs and barricades. Pre-start checks of guards, stops, control bar, labels, team, contamination in the material and push sticks at least 1.5 m long
Work zone	Reach-distance guarding, with 1500 mm recommended from the leading edge of the hopper to the rollers, and a drop-down table that extends the distance to 1500 mm. Blockages are not cleared while the machine runs: the key is removed and moving parts allowed to stop. Branches go in off the centre line, butt first, and are released when gripped. Short material goes in with a push stick. The guide says the machine is not run with members of the public in the exclusion zone
Safe operating work procedures	The businesses are expected to have a standard operating procedure, safe work procedure or safe work method statement for the chipper, citing the duty to provide safe systems of work, information, training, instruction and supervision
Training	Machine-specific training for each type of chipper, with training and refresher training recorded. It lists topics: hazards of the machine, safety features, starting, feeding and shutting down, clearing blockages, emergencies, maintenance, transport, PPE, and testing of the bump bar, control device, interlocks and presence-sensing systems with the results recorded
Personal protective equipment	Eye and ear protection, helmets, boots, gloves and high-visibility clothing. Operators wear close-fitting clothing, single-stitched gloves with long cuffs tucked into sleeves, and no jewellery. It also asks for a sun protection policy and training records
Maintenance	Controls isolated and tagged out or the key removed before the disc or drum is reached. A mechanical means to stop the disc turning during maintenance. Blades and disc kept to the maker's specification. Maintenance and repairs recorded for each machine

One HSE sheet on the same machine

The HSE information sheet Power-fed mobile wood chippers: operator protection at infeed chutes (Agriculture Information Sheet No 38, revision 1) is guidance for arboriculture and forestry. It says operators are protected from the in-feed rollers by a combination of reach-distance guarding, set by the shape and size of the chute, and a protection device that stops the rollers when activated. It sets different distances by the height of the lower edge of the chute: for machines supplied on or before June 26, 2005 with the edge under 600 mm from the ground, the sheet gives at least 1200 mm from any chute edge to the rollers. It says the device can be worked with a body part other than the hands, such as the elbow, hip or torso. The sheet says new machines supplied on or after June 27, 2005 must comply with BS EN 13525:2005+A2:2009. The NSW guide lists the same HSE sheet in its references.

The same guide in other places

The WorkSafe Victoria page Woodchipper safety says it is adapted for Victorian employers and employees from the SafeWork NSW guide. It carries the same hazard list, adds wood dust to it, and has its own headings on plant selection, wood dust, noise and information, instruction, training or supervision. It applies to trailer-mounted hand-fed chippers with in-feed rollers that can mulch logs of 150 mm or larger. The WorkSafe New Zealand page on health and safety in the arboriculture industry lists a fact sheet, Safe use of wood chippers, as guidance on the protection needed for operators of hand-fed chippers. The page was last updated September 5, 2017. The page says its guidance will be progressively reviewed and either updated, replaced or revoked. This page does not summarise the fact sheet.

Where this fits

The machines themselves are set out in the guides to chippers and stump grinders and chipper types by feed and chute. The chipper report in the guide to report 16NY024 is one US account of a caught-in event.

Credit: SafeWork NSW text is licensed CC BY 4.0. HSE text is adapted under the Open Government Licence v3.0.