Product Overview

This Geotechnical and Water Well Drilling Operations SWMS is a site-ready Safe Work Method Statement designed to identify hazards, assess risks, and implement controls for drilling and related activities. It is a comprehensive document that covers multiple aspects of geotechnical, subsurface and water well drilling to support WHS compliance and safe management of high risk construction work.

Activities & Specific Tasks Covered

This document includes specific risk controls for:

• Planning and set-up of geotechnical and water well drilling operations, including site assessment and service location
• Angular drilling procedures for inclined and directional boreholes in varying ground conditions
• Drilling bore holes into the ground, including start-up, penetration, and withdrawal of drilling tools
• Borehole sampling operations, including core recovery, sample handling, labelling and storage
• Cable percussive boring techniques, including safe use of drop tools and hoisting systems
• Removal of coatings, liners and obstructions from existing boreholes using mechanical or chemical methods
• Deep hole drilling operations, including staged drilling, ground stability and well integrity controls
• Down-hole camera operations, including equipment set-up, cable management and electrical safety
• Safe operation of light truck mounted drilling rigs, including mobilisation, positioning and stabilisation
• General earth drilling operations for geotechnical investigation and water well development
• Heavy duty drilling activities in hard rock or high-strength strata, including vibration and noise controls
• Installation of boreholes, casings, screens and associated infrastructure
• Operating rotary boring rigs, including rotation, feed pressure, mud systems and emergency shut-down
• Use of rock drills and rotary percussion drilling equipment for subsurface investigation
• Subsurface drilling in variable geology, including controls for collapse, groundwater inflow and loss of circulation
• Management of drilling fluids, cuttings, spoil, and environmentally sensitive discharges
• Traffic management, exclusion zones and lifting operations around drilling rigs and support vehicles

Who is this for?

This SWMS is designed for geotechnical drilling contractors, water well drillers, civil and mining contractors, and site supervisors overseeing drilling and subsurface investigation works on Australian worksites.

Specific Job Steps & Hazards Covered

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: For working at heights on rigs, platforms and access systems
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice: For control of noise exposure from drilling rigs and rock drills
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice: For handling drill rods, casings, samples and equipment
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice: For the safe use, inspection and maintenance of drilling rigs and associated plant
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice: Where boreholes, pits or enclosed structures may create confined space hazards
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice: For site amenities, welfare and environmental conditions at drilling locations
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice: For the risk management framework applied across all drilling activities