Concrete Core Drilling SWMS

For concrete cutting and coring contractors, builders and maintenance crews who drill holes through slabs and walls with a rig-mounted core drill. It covers the job from planning and scanning for hidden services through drilling, dust and slurry control to making holes safe and packing up.

Core drilling that risks silica dust exposure is high risk construction work, because the approved Queensland silica code treats it as work in an area that may have a contaminated atmosphere (WHS Regulation s 291(l)), and a SWMS that covers what s 529CB(2) requires can replace the separate silica risk control plan (s 529CB(3)).

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

What is covered in our concrete core drilling SWMS template?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the job and locate concealed services” to “Remove cores, make safe and pack up”. The hazards and controls include:

• Cutting live conduit or cables hidden in the slab
• Cutting post-tensioned cables or reinforcement
• Cores and tools falling through the opening
• Silica dust from drilling concrete
• Wet cement slurry and dried slurry dust
• Electric shock where water and power meet
• Rig twisting or breaking free of its base
• Strains from handling the rig and cores
• Noise and hand-arm vibration
• Open holes left uncovered
• Heat illness and sun exposure

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
• Is carried out in an area that may have a contaminated or flammable atmosphere

Licences, training and competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work
• Site induction
• Training and verified competency in the core drilling rig, bit changes and the vacuum or anchor base used
• Training in the concrete scanner or ground penetrating radar used to locate reinforcement, post-tensioned cables and services
• Electrical work licence for the electrician who isolates and tests any circuits in the drilling area
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or regulator-approved training) where the drilling is assessed as high risk silica processing
• Respirator fit test for each worker who wears a tight-fitting respirator, repeated at least yearly and whenever the make or model changes (as the approved silica code recommends)
• Competency in the hoist, trolley or lifting aid used for the rig and large cores

Legislation and codes of practice referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• 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
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces 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)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace

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
• 11 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: waterproof safety boots with toe protection; long-sleeve, high-visibility clothing; safety glasses with side shields (face shield when drilling close to the face or overhead)
• Emergency arrangements for: live cable struck, gas, fuel or pressurised line struck and post-tensioned cable or reinforcement struck unexpectedly
• 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.