Basement Excavation and Shoring SWMS

Suits civil and building contractors excavating deep basements with shoring, anchors and dewatering. It covers design and adjoining structures, services, perimeter and ramps, shoring installation, staged excavation, anchors, groundwater, access and egress, daily inspection and backfill.

The high risk construction work boxes for a fall of more than 2 metres, a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 metres and movement of powered mobile plant are ticked. A basement excavation normally meets the Regulation definition of a trench (longer than it is wide and at least as long as it is deep) or a shaft (narrower than it is deep), and excavators and trucks work in the area. Trench collapse controls in s 306 apply from 1.5 metres. Tick any other box that applies, such as energised electrical installations or services, a road in use 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 Basement Excavation and Shoring SWMS?

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

• Excavation wall collapse burying a worker
• Damage to neighbouring buildings and structures
• Striking underground services
• Falls into the excavation
• Plant rollover and strikes on ramps
• Failure of shoring and ground anchors
• Groundwater and failure of dewatering
• Falling objects from the edge
• Silica dust and exhaust fumes
• Trucks and street traffic
• Removing support too early
• Noise and vibration from drilling and plant

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:

• Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2m
• 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 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
• Written shoring and ground support design from a competent person such as a geotechnical or structural engineer, with inspection sign-off at stages the design sets
• Competent person appointed to inspect the excavation, shoring and anchors daily and after rain or any change
• Excavator and plant operators trained and assessed as competent on the machines used (no high risk work licence class applies to operating an excavator)
• High risk work licence in the dogging or rigging class (Schedule 3) for anyone slinging a load or directing a crane or excavator lift out of the operator’s view
• Anchor drilling and stressing crew trained by the system supplier
• Trained traffic controllers where trucks use the road
• Site induction

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
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (earthmoving plant used for lifting)
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• 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) and Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld), ss 14-15 (underground electric lines)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 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.