Dewatering Pump SWMS

Suits civil, drainage, plumbing, building and landscaping contractors and site crews who set up and run electric or engine-driven pumps to remove water from excavations, pits, ponds and dams. It follows the job from planning and ground checks through edge access, moving the pump, the electrical supply, fuel and exhaust, hoses and discharge, running and monitoring the pump, dirty water, noise and heat, to pack-up and responding to a person in the water. Trenching and confined spaces are covered by separate SWMS, as are crane and excavator lifts.

Pumping water out of an excavation is construction work, and it is high risk construction work when it is carried out in or near water or other liquid that involves a risk of drowning, which is the work this SWMS is written for, so that item is ticked (WHS Regulation sections 289, 291 and 299); tick any other items that apply, such as energised electrical installations or a fall risk over 2 metres. Pumping that is not construction work, or has no risk of drowning, does not need a SWMS under section 299, and the document then works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment.

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 Dewatering Pump SWMS?

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

• Drowning when falling or being dragged into water, mud or a pit
• Banks and excavation walls slumping as the water level changes
• Electric shock from pump leads and connections in wet conditions
• Engine exhaust gas collecting in excavations
• Fire and spills when refuelling pumps
• Whipping hoses and failing couplings
• Heavy pump lifting and crush injuries
• Overhead power lines and buried services near the water
• Contaminated, stagnant and sewage-affected water
• Mosquito-borne illness around standing water
• Engine and generator noise
• Sun, heat and working alone at the water’s edge
• Discharge flooding or washing sediment into drains

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 water or other liquid that involves a risk of drowning

Licences, Training and Competency

• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction including the emergency plan, edge and exclusion zone rules
• Pump operators trained and assessed as competent on the pump, hoses and controls used; Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation has no high risk work licence class for dewatering pumps
• Competent person, such as a geotechnical or civil engineer, to advise on the stability of the excavation, bank or pond edge and on how fast the water level can be lowered
• Licensed electrician for any connection to fixed wiring, a switchboard or a generator supply, and for repairs to electrical equipment (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• Standby person or buddy briefed on the emergency plan and on rescue from the bank by reaching or throwing, for work at the edge of deep water
• Workers trained to use the lifejackets and rescue aids provided (WHS Regulation s 44)
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3 items 4 to 7), for anyone who slings a pump or directs a plant operator in moving a load that is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work); lifts by crane or other mobile lifting plant use a separate SWMS
• First aid equipment and facilities, and trained first aiders (including resuscitation) as the work, hazards and site need, with no fixed number in the Regulation (WHS Regulation s 42; First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021)
• Fire extinguisher training for anyone who refuels engine-driven pumps

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): ss 304 and 305 (underground essential services information and risks of excavation work)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021 (pits, sumps and excavations where gas can collect)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• 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
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• 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): ss 10 to 15 (overhead and underground electric lines), s 17 (unsafe equipment), s 18 (leads and cables) and s 140 (construction work), and the exclusion zones in schedule 2
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines (distances come from the 2026 Regulation)
• AS/NZS 3012 Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites (named in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 140)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (19 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.