Auger Boring and Thrust Boring SWMS

Suits civil, pipeline and utility contractors who bore casing under roads, driveways and structures with auger or thrust boring machines. It follows the work from planning and services clearance, through traffic control, launch and receiving pits and boring, to spoil removal, backfill and pack-up.

A SWMS is legally required only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). This template pre-ticks work in or near a tunnel or a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 m (item 6; a bore driven from a launch pit meets the Regulation’s definition of a tunnel), work near energised services (item 10), a road in use (item 13) and powered mobile plant (item 14). If the boring is away from any road in use, untick item 13. Tick any other item that applies, such as a fall of more than 2 metres or a confined space.

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 Auger Boring and Thrust Boring SWMS?

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

• Pit wall collapse and engulfment
• Falling into launch and receiving pits
• Entanglement in rotating augers
• Striking underground electrical, gas and water services
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Traffic striking workers beside a road
• Thrust frame movement and pinch points
• Dropped casing and augers when lifting
• Excavator overturning at pit edges
• Silica dust, noise and welding fume
• Foul air or gas in deep pits
• Surface settlement above the bore

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 shaft or trench with an excavated depth greater than 1.5m, or a tunnel
• Is carried out on or near energised electrical installations or services
• Is carried out on, in or adjacent to a road, railway, shipping lane or other traffic corridor that is in use by traffic other than pedestrians
• Is carried out in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Boring machine operator trained and verified as competent on the machine, its thrust frame, auger drive and emergency stops (Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for boring machines)
• 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 pipe, casing or augers or directs a plant operator in the movement of a load when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Engineer or competent person who designs the pits, shoring and thrust reaction, and sets the bore line and level
• Trained operator for the cable and pipe locator, or a service locating contractor
• Trained traffic controllers where traffic control is needed on or beside a road
• Spotter or safety observer briefed on hand signals, the exclusion zone and the power line distances
• First aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders (or access to them) as the work needs (WHS Regulation s 42)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant 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 Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• 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
• Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Accreditation and Other Provisions) Regulation 2015 (Qld): traffic controllers, sections 51 to 55
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and schedule 2 (overhead power line exclusion zones and unsafe distances)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 14 and 15 (underground electric lines)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)

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.