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Marine Construction Risk Assessment

Marine Construction Risk Assessment

  • • 100% Compliant with Australian WHS Acts & Regulations
  • • Fully Editable MS Word & PDF Formats Included
  • • Pre-filled Content – Ready to Deploy Immediately
  • • Customisable – Easily Add Your Logo & Site Details
  • • Includes 2 Years of Free Compliance Updates

Marine Construction Risk Assessment

Product Overview

Identify and control organisational risks associated with Marine Construction through a structured, management-level WHS Risk Management framework that supports planning, governance, and system design. This Risk Assessment helps demonstrate Due Diligence, align with the WHS Act, and protect your business from operational and legal liability across complex marine projects.

Risk Categories & Hazards Covered

This document assesses risks and outlines management controls for:

  • WHS Governance, Roles and Legal Compliance: Assessment of executive and management responsibilities, role clarity, legal duties, and the adequacy of WHS policies and governance structures for marine works.
  • Marine Project Planning and Design Risk Management: Management of design-phase risk reviews, constructability assessments, sequencing of marine works, and integration of safety in design for cofferdams, piles, jetties and other marine structures.
  • Contractor and Workforce Competency Management: Systems for prequalification, licence and ticket verification, marine induction programs, and ongoing competency assessment of employees, subcontractors and vessel crews.
  • Marine Plant, Vessel and Equipment Management: Protocols for selection, inspection, maintenance and safe operation of marine plant, barges, cranes, lifting gear, work boats and access equipment used in marine construction.
  • Marine Environment, Weather and Tidal Management: Assessment of exposure to tides, currents, swell, storms and reduced visibility, including forecasting, work stoppage criteria and environmental protection controls.
  • Systems for Work at Height and Over Water: Management of fall prevention, rescue systems, lifejackets, guardrails, access platforms and safe means of egress for personnel working on or over water.
  • Concrete Supply, Pumping and Placement Management: Controls for marine concrete delivery logistics, barge and deck loading, pump line routing, blowouts, washout water management and quality-related structural risks.
  • Cofferdam Integrity, Dewatering and Structural Monitoring Systems: Assessment of cofferdam design assumptions, inspection regimes, leak detection, dewatering controls, instrumentation and trigger action response plans.
  • Traffic, Marine Vessel and Interface Management: Management of interactions between marine construction vessels, port users, public craft, land-based traffic and pedestrian interfaces, including marine traffic management plans.
  • Health, Fatigue, Remote and Environmental Exposure Management: Systems for managing long shifts, remote or over-water locations, thermal stress, noise, vibration, hazardous substances and general worker health in marine environments.
  • Emergency Preparedness and Response for Marine and Cofferdam Incidents: Planning for man overboard, vessel collision, structural failure, flooding, medical emergencies and spill response, including drills and coordination with emergency services.
  • WHS Consultation, Communication and Documentation Systems: Frameworks for toolbox talks, marine safety briefings, consultation with workers and contractors, document control, and dissemination of critical marine safety information.
  • Monitoring, Audit and Continuous Improvement of WHS Systems: Processes for inspections, incident investigations, performance metrics, internal and external audits, and continuous improvement of marine construction WHS management systems.

Who is this for?

This Risk Assessment is designed for Business Owners, Marine Construction Managers, Principal Contractors and Safety Professionals responsible for planning, overseeing and governing marine construction projects and cofferdam operations.

Hazards & Risks Covered

Hazard Risk Description
1. WHS Governance, Roles and Legal Compliance
  • • Lack of clearly defined WHS responsibilities for marine construction and cofferdam works under WHS Act 2011 and associated Regulations
  • • Failure to identify the project as high-risk construction work (work in or near water, work at height, use of plant, concrete pumping) and apply corresponding WHS management duties
  • • Inadequate systems for consultation, cooperation and coordination between PCBUs (principal contractor, marine contractor, concrete supplier, barge operator, divers, tug operators)
  • • Absence of a WHS management plan specific to marine construction and cofferdam/concreting activities
  • • Inadequate review of compliance with Australian Standards, codes of practice and marine authority requirements (e.g. AMSA, port authorities, maritime safety regulations)
  • • No formal process for verifying that subcontractors have competent WHS systems for marine work and concrete operations
2. Marine Project Planning and Design Risk Management
  • • Insufficient design risk assessment for cofferdams, formwork, falsework and temporary works in a marine environment
  • • Failure to consider hydrodynamic loads, tides, currents, wave action, vessel wash and scour in cofferdam and marine concrete design
  • • Inadequate allowance in design and planning for construction sequencing, dewatering, flooding scenarios and emergency egress
  • • Lack of integration between marine engineering design, structural design, geotechnical data and construction methodology
  • • Omission of safe access/egress and maintenance requirements in design of temporary and permanent marine structures
  • • Design not considering constructability under adverse weather, reduced visibility, or restricted marine traffic windows
3. Contractor and Workforce Competency Management
  • • Use of personnel without appropriate marine construction, confined space, and marine concreting experience
  • • Inadequate verification of licences, high-risk work tickets and maritime qualifications (e.g. crane operators, doggers, riggers, vessel masters, deckhands, divers)
  • • Insufficient supervision capacity and competency for high-risk marine and cofferdam works
  • • Lack of competency in understanding concrete behaviour in tidal and submerged conditions (setting, washout, pumping pressures)
  • • Insufficient training on project-specific hazards such as cofferdam failure, rapid water ingress, hypothermia, and marine fauna risks
4. Marine Plant, Vessel and Equipment Management
  • • Inadequate selection, inspection and maintenance of barges, workboats, cranes, pumps and concrete delivery equipment used over water
  • • Failure of mooring systems, spud piles or anchoring leading to barge drift, collision with structures or cofferdams
  • • Incompatibility between plant capacity and marine construction loads (e.g. crane reach and lift over water, concrete pump pressures, boom stability on barges)
  • • Insufficient redundancy and reliability of dewatering pumps for cofferdams and work areas below water level
  • • Improper storage and maintenance of marine safety equipment such as life rings, retrieval gear and personal flotation devices (PFDs)
5. Marine Environment, Weather and Tidal Management
  • • Rapid changes in weather, wind, swell, storms or flood flows impacting marine construction stability and worker safety
  • • Incorrect tidal predictions or failure to plan for tidal windows affecting cofferdam erection, dewatering and concrete placement quality
  • • Inadequate monitoring of water levels leading to overtopping of cofferdams, loss of stability or uncontrolled flooding of work areas
  • • Failure to manage marine traffic interactions resulting in wash, collision or damage to cofferdams and formwork systems
  • • Insufficient environmental controls for fuel, concrete washout and sediment leading to pollution incidents and regulatory breaches
6. Systems for Work at Height and Over Water
  • • Uncontrolled risk of falls from barges, pontoons, cofferdam edges, formwork platforms and access structures into water or onto lower levels
  • • Inadequate system-level controls for selection, inspection and use of fall protection equipment in a marine environment
  • • Lack of integrated planning for simultaneous work at height and marine concrete operations, including overhead work and crane lifts
  • • Insufficient consideration of rescue and retrieval of workers using fall arrest systems over water
7. Concrete Supply, Pumping and Placement Management
  • • Mismatch between concrete mix design and marine placement requirements (e.g. setting time, anti-washout properties, temperature, slump retention)
  • • Inadequate coordination between batching plant, transport, barge operations and pump crews leading to delays, cold joints or rushed work
  • • Failure of concrete pumping systems (blockages, hose bursts, over-pressurisation) due to poor system management rather than operator error alone
  • • Lack of system-level controls for quality assurance and testing of marine concrete under variable tidal and temperature conditions
  • • Insufficient planning for placement sequences within cofferdams, leading to instability, uplift, or unbalanced loads on temporary works
8. Cofferdam Integrity, Dewatering and Structural Monitoring Systems
  • • Loss of cofferdam stability due to inadequate monitoring of pressures, movements, seepage and structural performance
  • • Over-reliance on single dewatering systems with no redundancy, resulting in uncontrolled flooding of work areas
  • • Lack of formal inspection and sign-off processes for critical stages such as completion of sheet piling, bracing installation and dewatering commencement
  • • Inadequate change control when modifying bracing, access points or penetrations through cofferdam walls for services or concrete pipelines
  • • Insufficient monitoring of ground conditions and scour around cofferdams affecting long-term stability
9. Traffic, Marine Vessel and Interface Management
  • • Poorly controlled interaction between land-based plant, delivery vehicles and marine vessels during construction and concrete delivery
  • • Conflicting movements of barges, tugs, supply vessels and third-party marine traffic near cofferdams and work platforms
  • • Inadequate communication systems between shore-based supervisors, marine crew and concrete pumping teams
  • • Lack of integrated planning for berth access, loading/unloading operations and passenger transfers to work platforms or cofferdams
10. Health, Fatigue, Remote and Environmental Exposure Management
  • • Prolonged exposure to cold, wet, windy conditions during marine works leading to hypothermia, reduced dexterity and impaired decision making
  • • Fatigue due to extended shifts, night work aligned with tides, and travel to remote marine sites
  • • Limited access to medical support, first aid and emergency services in remote or over-water locations
  • • Exposure to noise, vibration and whole-body vibration from vessels, pumps and construction plant
  • • Psychosocial hazards including isolation, shift work, and high-pressure concrete pour windows
11. Emergency Preparedness and Response for Marine and Cofferdam Incidents
  • • Inadequate preparedness for man overboard events, vessel collisions, cofferdam breaches or rapid flooding of work areas
  • • Lack of coordinated emergency response arrangements between multiple PCBUs and emergency services in a marine environment
  • • Insufficient drills and training for workers in marine evacuation, water rescue and cofferdam emergency procedures
  • • Poorly maintained or inaccessible emergency equipment (life-saving appliances, spill kits, emergency lighting, communication devices)
12. WHS Consultation, Communication and Documentation Systems
  • • Poor flow of safety-critical information between management, supervisors, marine crew and subcontractors
  • • Workers not engaged in hazard identification for marine and cofferdam operations, leading to unreported issues
  • • Inadequate documentation and record keeping for high-risk decisions, inspections and permits
  • • Language, literacy or cultural barriers preventing effective understanding of WHS expectations for marine construction
13. Monitoring, Audit and Continuous Improvement of WHS Systems
  • • Failure to detect declining WHS performance in marine and cofferdam operations until a major incident occurs
  • • Inadequate analysis of incidents, near misses and non-conformances specific to marine concrete works
  • • Lack of systematic follow-up on corrective actions, leading to repeated issues
  • • Over-reliance on lag indicators (injury statistics) without sufficient proactive monitoring of critical controls

Need to add specific hazards for your workplace?

Don't worry if a specific hazard isn't listed above. Once you purchase, simply log in to your Client Portal and add your own custom hazards at no extra cost. We take care of the hard work—creating the risk ratings and control measures for free—to ensure your document is compliant within minutes.

Legislation & References

This document was researched and developed to align with:

  • Work Health and Safety Act 2011
  • Work Health and Safety Regulations 2017
  • Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice
  • Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice
  • Construction Work Code of Practice
  • Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice
  • First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice
  • Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice
  • AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018: Risk management — Guidelines
  • AS/NZS 4801 / ISO 45001: Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements and guidance for use
  • AS 4997: Guidelines for the design of maritime structures (where applicable to cofferdams and marine works)
  • AS/NZS 1891 Series: Industrial fall-arrest systems and devices
  • AS/NZS 1170 Series: Structural design actions, including environmental loads relevant to marine structures
Standard Risk Assessment Features (Click to Expand)
  • Comprehensive hazard identification for all activities
  • Risk rating matrix with likelihood and consequence analysis
  • Existing control measures evaluation
  • Residual risk assessment after controls
  • Hierarchy of controls recommendations
  • Action priority rankings
  • Review and monitoring requirements
  • Consultation and communication records
  • Legal compliance references
  • Sign-off and approval sections

$79.5

Safe Work Australia Aligned