Safe Operation of Auger or Post Hole Digger SWMS

Suits fencing, landscaping, signage, building and civil contractors who dig post holes or footing holes with a portable petrol auger. It covers locating underground services and overhead lines, set-up, refuelling, drilling, clearing jams and making holes safe.

A SWMS is legally required under s 299 of the WHS Regulation only when the work is high risk construction work, such as drilling on or near energised electrical services or gas and fuel lines, in a shaft deeper than 1.5 metres or where the drilling creates silica dust (tick the contaminated atmosphere item, s 291(l)); for other post hole work this document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment.

New to SWMS? Read What is a safe work method statement?

What is covered in our safe operation of auger or post hole digger SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Locate underground services” to “Complete the work and make the site safe”. The hazards and controls include:

• Striking buried electrical cables
• Striking gas, fuel and water services
• Contact with overhead power lines
• Kickback when the auger snags
• Entanglement in the rotating auger
• Flying stones and soil
• Petrol fire during refuelling
• Carbon monoxide from engine exhaust
• Engine noise and hand-arm vibration
• Respirable crystalline silica dust
• Heat illness and sunburn
• Open holes left unguarded
• Strains from carrying the machine and bits

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 on or near energised electrical installations or services

Licences, training and competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) when the work is construction work
• No high risk work licence is required to operate a portable auger or post hole digger
• Operator trained in the manufacturer’s start-up, shut-down and emergency stop procedures for the machine used
• Trained person to operate the cable and pipe locator and mark underground services
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) where the dust assessment finds the drilling high risk
• Site induction

Legislation and codes of practice referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) (including chapter 8A, crystalline silica)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead line exclusion zones in schedule 2 and underground electric lines
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages. Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 10 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: safety boots with toe protection; long-sleeved high-visibility shirt and long trousers, close fitting with no loose cuffs or straps; safety glasses or a face shield
• Emergency arrangements for: cable or pipe strike (electrical), gas or fuel line strike and person caught or struck by the auger
• Plus the parts every Work Safety QLD SWMS shares, from the s 291 checklist to the worker sign-on sheet (see the layout in our free SWMS template)

Adjust it for your site, plant and crew, and talk it through with your workers before work starts.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed October 2026.