HDD Drilling Fluid Management SWMS

Suits civil, utility and telecommunications crews who run the mixing, pumping, recycling and disposal side of a horizontal directional drilling job. It follows the fluid from planning and set-up through mixing, pumping to the rig, returns and frac-out, recycling and disposal to shut-down. The drilling operation and the pipe pull-back are covered by separate SWMS.

Pre-ticked: powered mobile plant movement, because the rig, excavators and vacuum trucks move around the mixing area. Also tick the energised electrical installations or services item if overhead lines or buried cables lie near the mixing area, sumps or truck routes, the road or traffic corridor item if the work is beside a road in use, the shaft or trench item if a pit or sump works as a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 metres, and the confined space item if a pit or tank meets the definition.

New to SWMS? Read What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?

What Is Covered In Our HDD Drilling Fluid Management SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the fluid system and set out the mixing area” to “Shut down, flush, clean and pack up”. The hazards and controls include:

• High pressure fluid injection injuries
• Hose whip and coupling failure
• Stored pressure in pump lines
• Dust from bentonite and dry additives
• Slips on bentonite and wet clay
• Manual handling of bags and drums
• Spills reaching drains and waterways
• Frac-out and loss of returns
• Falls into sumps and fluid-filled pits
• Vacuum trucks and tankers moving on site
• Tipping bodies near overhead power lines
• Disposal of used fluid and cuttings

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 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
• Fluid pump, mixing plant and recycling unit operators trained and assessed as competent on the equipment (no high risk work licence class applies to operating a drill rig, pump or mixing plant)
• Vacuum truck and tanker operators trained in the truck and the liquid waste transfer procedure
• Training in the hazardous chemicals handled (SDS read), and in high pressure fluid injection injuries and the first aid response
• Competent person to inspect and maintain pumps, hoses and couplings (WHS Regulation s 213)
• Licensed electrical worker for any fixed wiring or connection of the plant to a supply (Electrical Safety Act 2002 s 55)
• High risk work licence in the dogging class, or a higher rigging class (Schedule 3 items 4 to 7), for anyone who slings equipment for a lift, or directs a plant operator moving a load that is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 19, dogging work)
• Spotters briefed on hand signals and the exclusion zones
• Site induction; an adequate number of workers trained in first aid, or access to trained people (WHS Regulation s 42)

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): plant ss 203, 208, 210, 211 and 213 to 215 (risk management, guarding, operator controls, emergency stops, maintenance, powered mobile plant)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 357 (containing and managing spills), s 60 (hazardous manual tasks), ss 56 and 57 (noise) and chapter 8A (crystalline silica)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld): s 304 (underground essential services information) and ss 305 and 306 (excavation work and trenches) where a sump or pit is a trench or shaft
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021
• 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 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
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): ss 10 to 13 and sch 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

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (16 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 8 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 clothing and safety boots with non-slip soles; safety glasses, and a face shield when connecting or disconnecting lines and fittings or working near fluid under pressure
• Emergency arrangements for: high pressure fluid injection, large spill or frac-out and machine contact with a power line (general guidance)
• 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. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.

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