Pneumatic Boring & Pipe Jacking SWMS
Pneumatic boring, impact moling, and pipe jacking under roads and footpaths — bore pit excavation, pneumatic equipment setup, service clearances, and casing installation.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Pneumatic boring covers pneumatic boring and under-boring — using a pneumatic boring tool to install services and conduits under roads and obstructions without open trenching, including the launch and receive pits. The work is trenchless technology, which is high risk construction work. The defining hazards are the underground services in the bore path, the launch and receive pits, the powered boring equipment, and any confined space in the pits. This document is written on the basis that pneumatic boring is carried out with the services, pit, equipment and confined-space controls in place, and a SWMS for the high risk construction work.
Pneumatic boring is carried out as construction work in connection with the excavation requirements, with the underground services in the bore path located and avoided, the launch and receive pits managed against collapse and falls, the powered boring equipment operated safely, and any confined space in the pits managed. Because the work is trenchless technology near services, the pits may exceed 1.5 metres, and they may be confined spaces, it is high risk construction work. The services, the pits, the equipment, and the confined space are the considerations. This document coordinates the services, pit, equipment and confined-space controls so the pneumatic boring is carried out safely.
Hazards identified
9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Service strike on gas, electrical or water services in the bore path
Collapse and falls in the launch and receive pits
Injury from the powered boring equipment and tooling
Atmospheric and entrapment hazards in the pits
Injury from the compressed air and pneumatic tool
Service strike from unexpected services and bore deviation
Musculoskeletal injury from manual handling in the pits
Slips and exposure from the spoil and material
Being struck by traffic where boring is under a road
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Administrative: obtain the essential services information before excavating — through Before You Dig Australia for underground assets and the Look Up and Live information for overhead assets — and locate, identify and avoid or isolate the services, because striking a gas, electrical or water service can cause explosion, electrocution or flooding.
- 2Engineering: prevent trench and excavation collapse — the leading cause of fatality in excavation — by shoring, benching or battering the excavation, using trench boxes or shields, to a geotechnical assessment where required, because a collapse occurs quickly and can bury or crush a worker.
- 3Engineering: use the powered boring equipment, compressed air and pneumatic tool safely to the manufacturer's instructions, keeping clear of the tool and the air.
- 4Engineering: where the work involves entry into a confined space such as a pit, drain, large pipe or chamber, apply the confined space controls — atmospheric testing, a confined space entry permit, ventilation, a standby person and rescue arrangements.
- 5Engineering: manage unexpected services and bore deviation with potholing, locating and monitoring the bore.
- 6Engineering: use mechanical aids — excavators, cranes, pipe layers and lifting equipment — and team lifting for the heavy pipes, barriers, panels, rolls and materials, and manage the manual-handling and awkward-posture hazard with the hierarchy of controls for hazardous manual tasks.
- 7Administrative: manage the spoil and material from the bore, and where boring is under a road manage the traffic.
- 8Administrative: because the work is in or near a shaft or trench with an excavated depth greater than 1.5 metres, prepare a SWMS for the high risk construction work before it commences, with the ground-support and access controls implemented.
- 9Administrative: because the work involves entry into a confined space, prepare a SWMS for the high risk construction work before it commences, with the confined space entry controls implemented.
- 10Administrative: all workers must hold a valid White Card (General Construction Induction Training, CPCCWHS1001), with the plant tickets, traffic control accreditation, confined space, and other competencies required for the work.
- 11Administrative: conduct a pre-start toolbox talk covering the day's work, identified hazards, the traffic and plant movements, required PPE and emergency procedures, and record attendance in the consultation section.
- 12Administrative: consult workers and any health and safety representatives on the work and its risks, record the consultation, and keep this document available at the workplace.
- 13PPE: high-visibility clothing to AS/NZS 4602.1, eye protection, hearing protection where required, gloves appropriate to the task, and Class I or Class II safety footwear with protective toecap to AS/NZS 2210.3.
- 14Administrative: review and update this SWMS whenever the work scope changes, after any incident or near miss, when a worker or health and safety representative raises a concern, when new hazards are identified, or at minimum every 12 months.
- 15Administrative: confirm the work is completed safely, the excavation, plant and area are left in a safe condition, and the site is secured.
Applicable Codes of Practice
The controls for the excavation and trenching, including ground support, services and access.
Obtaining the underground and overhead essential services information before excavating or working near services.
Atmospheric testing, entry permit, ventilation and rescue controls for entry into pits, drains, pipes and chambers.
Controls for the road and civil plant, rigs, rollers and pavers used in the work, including guarding and safe operation.
The general construction work duties for the civil road work, including the SWMS and principal contractor duties.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
The launch and receive pits may have an excavated depth greater than 1.5 metres, and the work is trenchless technology, which is high risk construction work requiring a SWMS before the work commences.
The launch and receive pits may be confined spaces, which is high risk construction work requiring a SWMS before the work commences, with confined space entry controls.
This is civil construction work that, in the circumstances described, is high risk construction work — involving in or near a shaft or trench with an excavated depth greater than 1.5 metres; in or near a confined space — so a SWMS must be prepared before the work commences, kept readily accessible, reviewed as necessary, and given to the principal contractor if one is appointed. The work is carried out in connection with the relevant construction, excavation, traffic, plant and other requirements, with the controls for the specific hazards applied. A failure in this work can cause a fatal trench collapse, traffic, plant, fall, gas or other serious injury, and breaches of the relevant legislation and the primary duty of care under the model WHS Act are actively enforced, with offence categories running from failure-to-comply through to reckless conduct, and the most serious breaches carrying imprisonment for individuals. Body-corporate maxima are substantial and indexed; the current maximum follows the prevailing schedule of the responsible regulator.
Who this is for
- →Pneumatic boring and trenchless crews.
- →Trenchless, boring and civil utilities contractors.
- →Utilities and civil construction businesses.
- →PCBUs requiring under-boring and trenchless installation.
- →PCBU safety managers and supervisors coordinating the services, pit and confined-space controls.
What you receive
- ✓Editable Microsoft Word document (.docx) fully compatible with Microsoft Word 2016 and newer, Google Docs, and LibreOffice Writer.
- ✓Title page with editable fields for PCBU name, ABN, site or project address, work description, principal contractor details, and document revision date.
- ✓Hazard register with the pneumatic boring hazards — each with a documented consequence, inherent risk rating on a 5x5 likelihood-consequence matrix, hierarchy-of-control measures, and residual risk rating.
- ✓Pneumatic boring prompts referencing the excavation and confined spaces Codes of Practice, a services and bore-path section, a launch-and-receive-pit section, and a confined-space and equipment record.
- ✓Licensing and competency prompts for the plant, traffic control, confined space and other work, and a plant pre-operational and inspection checklist where relevant.
- ✓Worker consultation record per the model WHS Act consultation duty and a worker sign-on register (blank, expandable).
- ✓Applicable legislation and Codes of Practice schedule pre-populated for the model WHS jurisdiction with a state-variance reference table covering the harmonised states, plus Victoria.
- ✓Emergency procedure template and a revision log.
Worked example
A boring crew is engaged to pneumatically bore a service under a road. The underground services in the bore path are located through Before You Dig Australia, identified and avoided, with potholing to confirm. The launch and receive pits are managed against collapse and falls with shoring and edge protection. The powered boring equipment, compressed air and pneumatic tool are used safely to the manufacturer's instructions, keeping clear of the tool and the air. Where the pits are confined spaces, the confined space controls are applied. Unexpected services and bore deviation are managed with potholing, locating and monitoring the bore. The manual handling in the pits, and the spoil, are managed. Where boring is under a road, the traffic is managed. Because the work is trenchless technology, the pits may exceed 1.5 metres, and they may be confined spaces, a SWMS is prepared for the high risk construction work. The boring is completed, and the records retained.
Related legislation
- Model Work Health and Safety Act — primary duty of care; the duty to consult workers; the reckless-conduct offence; and notifiable-incident provisions, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
- Model Work Health and Safety Regulations — the construction work, excavation, plant, traffic, confined spaces and falls provisions, and the Section 291 high risk construction work and SWMS duties, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
- The construction work, excavation work, confined spaces and falls Codes of Practice, the traffic management guidance, and the relevant standards such as AS 5100 for bridges and AS 4678 for retaining structures, are called up by the relevant safety legislation for the civil road work.
- Essential services information is obtained through Before You Dig Australia for underground assets and the Look Up and Live information for overhead assets before excavating; plant operation, traffic control and confined space work require the relevant licences, accreditations and competencies.
- Victoria operates under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, with the construction, excavation, plant and high risk construction work provisions applying in place of the model instruments.
Frequently asked questions
Is pneumatic boring high risk construction work?
Yes — under-bore and trenchless technology is high risk construction work, the launch and receive pits may exceed 1.5 metres, and they may be confined spaces, all of which require a SWMS before the work commences. Pneumatic boring triggers the shaft-depth and confined-space high risk construction work categories.
How are services protected during boring?
The underground services in the bore path are located through Before You Dig Australia, identified and avoided, with potholing to confirm, and unexpected services and bore deviation managed with monitoring, because boring can strike a service. Locating and avoiding services in the bore path prevents a service strike.
What are the launch and receive pits?
The launch and receive pits are the excavations at each end of the bore, which present collapse, fall and possible confined space hazards, so they are managed against collapse and falls with shoring and edge protection, and the confined space controls applied where they are confined spaces. Managing the launch and receive pits controls the excavation and confined space hazards of pneumatic boring.
Is there a confined space hazard?
Yes — the launch and receive pits may be confined spaces, so the confined space controls are applied, including atmospheric testing, a confined space entry permit, ventilation, a standby person and rescue arrangements. The confined space in the pits is managed alongside the services and bore hazards.
Who carries out pneumatic boring?
Pneumatic boring is carried out by competent boring crews in connection with the excavation requirements, with the services, pit, equipment and confined-space controls, and a SWMS for the high risk construction work. The boring is carried out with the services, pits and confined space managed.