BlueSafe
Tunneling Safety Risk Assessment

Tunneling Safety 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

Tunneling Safety Risk Assessment

Product Overview

Identify and control organisational risks associated with Tunnelling Safety through a structured, management-level Risk Assessment that supports planning, governance, and systems implementation across the full tunnelling lifecycle. This document helps demonstrate Due Diligence under the WHS Act, reduce operational liability, and support defensible, compliant decision-making for high-risk underground works.

Risk Categories & Hazards Covered

This document assesses risks and outlines management controls for:

  • Governance, Legal Compliance & WHS Responsibilities: Assessment of organisational WHS duties, PCBU obligations, officer due diligence, consultation arrangements, and documentation of roles and accountabilities for tunnelling projects.
  • Design, Ground Investigation & Geotechnical Risk Management: Management of geotechnical investigations, design assumptions, ground characterisation, and integration of geotechnical risk into project planning and controls.
  • Tunnelling Method Selection & Systems Integration: Evaluation of tunnelling methods (Micro Tunnelling, TBM, Road Header) to ensure alignment with ground conditions, project constraints, safety-in-design principles, and interface with surface and adjacent works.
  • Plant Procurement, Engineering Controls & Maintenance Systems: Protocols for specifying, selecting, commissioning, and maintaining tunnelling plant and equipment, including safety-critical systems, guarding, interlocks, and preventive maintenance programs.
  • Ventilation, Atmospheric Monitoring & Hazardous Substances: Assessment of ventilation design, air quality criteria, gas and dust monitoring, diesel emissions control, and management of hazardous substances and explosives used in tunnelling.
  • Ground Support Systems & Tunnel Lining Management: Management of support and lining systems, including design verification, installation quality, inspection regimes, and change control where conditions deviate from design assumptions.
  • Excavation Stability, Face Control & Inundation Risk: Controls for excavation sequencing, face stability, water ingress, flooding and inundation scenarios, including monitoring, trigger action response plans (TARPs) and contingency planning.
  • Energy Isolation, Lockout/Tagout & Stored Energy Control: Systems for isolation of electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic and mechanical energy, including lockout/tagout procedures, verification of isolation, and management of residual and stored energy risks.
  • Emergency Management, Egress & Rescue Capability: Planning for fire, entrapment, inundation and atmospheric emergencies, including egress routes, refuge chambers, communications, rescue equipment, and coordination with emergency services.
  • Traffic Management, Access & Interface with Surface Works: Management of vehicle and plant movements, shaft access, materials handling, and interaction between underground operations, surface works, public roads and third-party assets.
  • Worker Competency, Training & Supervision: Assessment of competency requirements, licensing, verification of experience, site-specific training, and supervision arrangements for tunnelling and confined underground environments.
  • Contractor Management, Procurement & Interface Control: Systems for prequalification, selection, onboarding and oversight of tunnelling contractors, including interface coordination, information sharing and performance monitoring.
  • Fatigue, Rostering, Psychosocial & Remote Work Risks: Management of shift patterns, extended hours, remote or isolated work, mental health, and psychosocial hazards associated with confined, high-stress tunnelling environments.
  • Monitoring, Reporting, Audit & Continuous Improvement: Frameworks for safety performance monitoring, incident and near-miss reporting, inspections, audits, corrective actions, and ongoing improvement of the tunnelling safety management system.

Who is this for?

This Risk Assessment is designed for Business Owners, Tunnel Project Directors, Construction Managers, and Safety Managers responsible for planning, procuring and overseeing tunnelling operations and associated underground works.

Hazards & Risks Covered

Hazard Risk Description
1. Governance, Legal Compliance & WHS Responsibilities
  • • Lack of clear PCBU and officer due diligence arrangements for tunnelling activities under WHS Act 2011
  • • Inadequate understanding of duty of care for designers, principal contractors and subcontractors in tunnelling environments
  • • Failure to integrate tunnelling risk management with overall project WHS management system
  • • Insufficient consultation with workers and health and safety representatives (HSRs) on tunnelling-specific risks
  • • Failure to incorporate relevant Australian Standards, Codes of Practice and tunnelling guidelines into governance documents
  • • Poor change management for design, equipment or methodology variations (e.g. switch between micro tunnelling, road header and TBM)
  • • Inadequate incident notification and regulator liaison processes for serious tunnelling incidents and near misses
2. Design, Ground Investigation & Geotechnical Risk Management
  • • Inadequate geotechnical investigations prior to selection of tunnelling method (micro tunnelling, road header, TBM)
  • • Uncertain ground conditions leading to unplanned ground movement, collapse or subsidence
  • • Insufficient assessment of groundwater inflows and hydrostatic pressure affecting tunnel stability
  • • Poor integration between design engineers, geotechnical specialists and construction team
  • • Inadequate design factors of safety for tunnel support systems and lining based on assumed ground behaviour
  • • Lack of monitoring strategy for ground movement, settlement and support performance
  • • Failure to consider interaction with existing services, utilities and nearby structures in design
3. Tunnelling Method Selection & Integration (Micro Tunnelling, TBM, Road Header)
  • • Selection of inappropriate tunnelling method for ground, alignment, and environmental conditions
  • • Fragmented planning when multiple tunnelling methods are used on the same project without clear interfaces
  • • Underestimation of equipment capability limits and operating envelopes
  • • Inadequate contingency planning for method changeover or equipment failure (e.g. TBM breakdown, micro tunnelling head retrieval)
  • • Insufficient assessment of vibration, noise and settlement impacts from method selection
  • • Lack of system-wide consideration of spoil management, ventilation, power and access requirements across methods
4. Plant Procurement, Engineering Controls & Maintenance Systems
  • • Procurement of tunnelling plant (TBM, road header, micro tunnelling rigs) without adequate WHS functional safety features
  • • Lack of conformity assessment and commissioning checks for complex tunnelling plant and support systems
  • • Inadequate preventive maintenance and inspection systems for critical safety components
  • • Failure of emergency stop, isolation and braking systems due to poor maintenance or design
  • • Incompatible or uncertified modifications to tunnelling plant and support systems
  • • Poor availability of spare parts and technical support leading to improvised repairs
5. Ventilation, Atmospheric Monitoring & Hazardous Substances
  • • Inadequate ventilation design leading to build‑up of diesel exhaust, dust, welding fumes or blasting fumes in tunnels
  • • Failure of ventilation fans or ducting systems without appropriate monitoring or alarms
  • • Lack of continuous atmospheric monitoring for oxygen levels, flammable gases and toxic contaminants
  • • Poor management of shotcrete chemicals, grouts, resins and other hazardous substances used in tunnel support systems
  • • Insufficient consideration of temperature and humidity leading to heat stress risk in confined tunnels
  • • Uncontrolled use of diesel plant underground leading to elevated NOx, CO and particulate levels
6. Ground Support Systems & Tunnel Lining Management
  • • Inadequate system for design, selection and verification of tunnel support systems (rock bolts, mesh, shotcrete, segmental linings)
  • • Incorrect installation of support elements due to poor procedures or supervision
  • • Failure to respond to observed ground deterioration, overbreak or convergence
  • • Inadequate traceability of installed support (location, type, batch data, testing records)
  • • Lack of systematic pull‑testing, quality control and inspection of ground support installation
  • • Failure to integrate TBM segmental lining performance data into ongoing risk assessments
7. Excavation Stability, Face Control & Inundation Risk
  • • Face instability during tunnelling with road header or TBM resulting in collapse or sudden ground loss
  • • Uncontrolled water ingress or pressurised inflows leading to inundation or ground softening
  • • Inadequate system to monitor and manage face pressure in pressurised TBM operations
  • • Lack of contingency planning for rapid sealing of inflows, grout curtains or dewatering adjustments
  • • Insufficient control of excavation advance rates and sequencing relative to ground conditions and support capacities
  • • Poor communication of geotechnical hazard zones to operators and supervisors
8. Energy Isolation, Lockout/Tagout & Stored Energy Control
  • • Failure to isolate energy sources on TBM, road header, micro tunnelling rigs and associated plant during maintenance or blockages
  • • Uncontrolled release of stored energy (hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, mechanical, pressurised slurry)
  • • Inadequate lockout/tagout systems and hardware to manage complex multi‑energy systems
  • • Poor coordination between contractors when multiple parties work on the same plant or system
  • • Lack of clear isolation drawings, registers and procedures for tunnelling plant and services
9. Emergency Management, Egress & Rescue Capability
  • • Inadequate emergency response planning for fire, explosion, ground collapse, inundation, medical events and plant failure underground
  • • Insufficient egress routes, refuge chambers or safe havens within the tunnel
  • • Poor communications systems for emergency notification and coordination in deep or long tunnels
  • • Lack of specialised rescue capability for confined and complex underground environments
  • • Inadequate integration of site emergency plan with external emergency services and local hospitals
  • • Failure to consider staged commissioning and decommissioning of emergency systems as tunnelling advances
10. Traffic Management, Access & Interface with Surface Works
  • • Poorly controlled interaction between tunnelling logistics (spoil haulage, deliveries) and surface traffic or public roads
  • • Inadequate separation of light vehicles, pedestrians and heavy plant in portal areas and shafts
  • • Congestion or blocked access routes impacting emergency response capability
  • • Uncoordinated interface between tunnelling operations and adjacent construction activities
  • • Insufficient controls for crane lifts, shaft access cages and man‑riding systems at portal and shaft locations
11. Worker Competency, Training & Supervision for Tunnelling Operations
  • • Insufficient competency of operators, supervisors and engineers in specialised tunnelling equipment and methods
  • • Inadequate understanding of site‑specific geotechnical and atmospheric hazards among workers
  • • Poor supervision ratios and lack of experienced tunnelling supervisors for critical shifts
  • • Lack of structured training on emergency procedures, isolation, confined space and ground support systems
  • • Reliance on informal on‑the‑job learning without verification of skills
12. Contractor Management, Procurement & Interface Control
  • • Engagement of tunnelling and specialist subcontractors without adequate WHS capability assessment
  • • Inconsistent WHS standards and procedures between principal contractor and tunnelling subcontractors
  • • Poor coordination of responsibilities for plant, maintenance, supervision and emergency response
  • • Gaps in risk management where multiple contractors interface at tunnel portals, shafts and underground junctions
  • • Inadequate pre‑qualification and ongoing performance monitoring of contractors
13. Fatigue, Rostering, Psychosocial & Remote Work Risks
  • • Excessive work hours, night shifts and rotating rosters leading to fatigue‑related errors in tunnelling operations
  • • Monotonous or high‑stress work environments contributing to psychosocial risks (e.g. isolated TBM cabins, confined spaces)
  • • Inadequate management of remote or isolated work where tunnelling sites are distant from support services
  • • Poor reporting culture for fatigue, stress and mental health concerns among tunnelling workers
  • • Insufficient rest facilities and break arrangements for long shifts underground
14. Monitoring, Reporting, Audit & Continuous Improvement
  • • Insufficient monitoring of key WHS performance indicators for tunnelling operations
  • • Under‑reporting of incidents, near misses and unsafe conditions underground
  • • Failure to learn from tunnelling incidents on the project or from external industry events
  • • Infrequent or ineffective WHS inspections and audits of tunnelling works
  • • Poor data integration between geotechnical monitoring, plant performance and WHS metrics

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
  • AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018: Risk management — Guidelines
  • Safe Work Australia – Code of Practice: How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks: Guidance on systematic identification, assessment and control of WHS risks.
  • Safe Work Australia – Code of Practice: Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces: Applicable to access, egress, shafts and elevated work areas associated with tunnelling.
  • Safe Work Australia – Code of Practice: Confined Spaces: Relevant to tunnel environments, shafts and underground chambers with restricted entry or adverse atmospheres.
  • Safe Work Australia – Code of Practice: Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work: Applicable to high-noise tunnelling plant and underground operations.
  • Safe Work Australia – Code of Practice: Hazardous Chemicals: Guidance on storage, handling and use of hazardous substances, including explosives and grouts.
  • AS 2865: Confined spaces — Requirements for risk management, entry procedures and emergency response in confined environments.
  • AS/NZS 4801 / ISO 45001: Occupational health and safety management systems — Frameworks for systematic WHS management and continual improvement.
  • AS 2294: Earth-moving machinery — Protective structures — Applicable to protective structures and operator protection for tunnelling plant.
  • AS 4871 Series: Electrical equipment for mines and quarries — Requirements for electrical installations and equipment in underground environments.
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