Live Sewer Connection and Tie-In SWMS

Suits drainage, plumbing and civil contractors who connect new pipework into a live sewer main or manhole. It covers the sewer owner’s approval, trench security and shoring, gas testing, flow control, making the connection, testing and decontamination. Laying the sewer main and entering a sewer need their own SWMS.

High risk construction work items ticked: work near a confined space (the live sewer), a trench deeper than 1.5 metres, an area that may have a contaminated or flammable atmosphere (sewer gas) and the movement of powered mobile plant (WHS Regulation s 291(f), (g), (l) and (o)). Nobody enters the sewer under this SWMS. Tick the other items that apply, for example energised electrical services, a road in use, or gas or fuel lines. Drainage work may also need a licence under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (s 56).

Learn More: What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?
Have you ever been asked to provide a SWMS on a project in Queensland? Read our guide to what a Safe Work Method Statement is and when you need one.

What Is Covered In Our Live Sewer Connection and Tie-In SWMS?

The job steps run in the order the work is done, from pre-start checks to finishing up. The hazards and controls include:

• Sewer gas and low oxygen in the trench
• Sewage splash and infection
• Trench wall collapse
• Sewage surge and plug blow-out
• Striking underground services
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Excavator overturning at the trench edge
• Dropped or swinging pipe and fittings
• Silica dust and slurry from coring
• Falling into the open trench
• Traffic beside the work area
• Heat and wet weather

High Risk Construction Work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Is carried out in or near a confined space
• Is carried out in or near a shaft or trench with an excavated depth greater than 1.5m, or a tunnel
• Is carried out in an area that may have a contaminated or flammable atmosphere
• Is carried out in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant

Licences, Training and Competency

• Drainers licence (or plumbers licence) under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld) where the work is drainage work (s 56), unless an exemption in s 58 applies, such as an unlicensed person doing drainage work while directly supervised by a licensee who is their employer or directed by their employer (s 58(1)(c), (2)); a QBCC contractor licence may also be required, and the QBCC can confirm which applies to the job
• Written approval and conditions from the sewerage service provider for the connection, and any shutdown or flow control it requires
• Confined space awareness training for every worker, so they recognise a live sewer pipe or manhole as a confined space and know nobody enters under this SWMS (WHS Regulation s 76)
• Gas detector user trained and competent in testing, calibration checks and reading the instrument
• Excavator operator trained and assessed as competent on the machine and attachments (no high risk work licence class applies to operating an excavator)
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3), for anyone who slings a load or directs the operator when the load is out of view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Competent person to inspect the trench and shoring before entry and after rain or ground movement
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• First aider on site, briefed on infection risks, cuts and gas exposure
• Site induction

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld)
• Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2019 (Qld)
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work (guidance)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): exclusion zones for overhead lines (schedule 2) and damage to underground lines (ss 14-15)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages
• Business, client, job and document details typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• The high risk construction work checklist, worded as WHS Regulation s 291, and the construction project question (s 292)
• A worker and health and safety representative consultation record
• Qualifications, plant, PPE, hazardous chemicals, safety equipment, permits, references and emergency arrangements filled in for this work
• A 5 x 5 risk matrix, and job steps with initial and residual risk scores and the people responsible
• Implementing, monitoring and review requirements, an additional controls log, revision history and a worker sign-on sheet

Review and adjust it for your site, your plant and the way your crew does the job, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. If you have any trouble downloading this SWMS, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.