Trailer-Mounted Hydro Excavator SWMS
Trailer-mounted hydro excavator operations covers non-destructive vacuum excavation for utility location, BYDA compliance, high-pressure water lance use up to 3000 psi, and spoil tank management for asset exposure.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Trailer-mounted hydro excavator operation covers the operation of a trailer-mounted hydro excavation unit — using high-pressure water and vacuum to excavate around services for potholing and service location. The defining hazards are the high-pressure water and its injury risk, the underground services, the vacuum and spoil tank, and the trailer-mounted plant. This document is written on the basis that trailer-mounted hydro excavator operation is carried out with the high-pressure-water, services, vacuum and plant controls in place.
Trailer-mounted hydro excavator operation is carried out in connection with the excavation and plant requirements, with the high-pressure water managed against injury, the underground services located and exposed safely, the vacuum and spoil tank managed, and the trailer-mounted plant operated safely. Where the excavation exceeds 1.5 metres or the work is on or adjacent to a road, it is high risk construction work. The high-pressure water, the services, the vacuum and tank, and the plant are the considerations. This document coordinates the high-pressure-water, services, vacuum and plant controls so the trailer-mounted hydro excavator operation is carried out safely.
Hazards identified
9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Severe injection and laceration injury from the high-pressure water
Service strike on gas, electrical or water services
Injury from the vacuum and the spoil tank
Injury from the trailer-mounted plant and hoses
Slips and exposure from the spoil and slurry
Injury from the pressurised system and discharge
Electrocution from electrical contact through the water
Musculoskeletal injury handling hoses and equipment
Being struck by traffic where excavating near a road
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Engineering: manage the high-pressure water against injection and laceration injury, keeping all parts of the body clear of the high-pressure jet, with the correct technique and equipment, because the high-pressure water can cause severe injection injury.
- 2Administrative: 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.
- 3Engineering: manage the vacuum and spoil tank safely, and the pressurised system and discharge.
- 4Engineering: use the road and civil plant — pavers, rollers, profilers, graders, rigs and trucks — safely to the plant requirements and the manufacturer's instructions, with guarding, pre-operational checks, competent operators and the plant maintained.
- 5Administrative: manage the spoil and slurry, and the manual handling of hoses and equipment.
- 6Engineering: manage electrical contact through the water by treating exposed services as live and using non-conductive methods where appropriate.
- 7Engineering: where excavating near a road, manage the traffic with a traffic management plan and traffic control.
- 8Administrative: where the excavation exceeds 1.5 metres or the work is on or adjacent to a road, prepare a SWMS for the high risk construction work before it commences.
- 9Administrative: 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.
- 10Administrative: 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.
- 11Administrative: 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.
- 12PPE: 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.
- 13Administrative: 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.
- 14Administrative: 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.
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.
The risk management process and hierarchy of controls applied to the hazards of the work.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Where the hydro excavation creates a shaft or trench with a depth greater than 1.5 metres, it is high risk construction work requiring a SWMS before the work commences.
The work is carried out on or adjacent to a road in use by traffic other than pedestrians, which is high risk construction work requiring a SWMS and a traffic management plan before the work commences.
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; on, in or adjacent to a road, railway, shipping lane or other traffic corridor in use by traffic other than pedestrians — 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
- →Hydro excavation operators and crews.
- →Hydro excavation and civil utilities contractors.
- →Utilities and civil construction businesses.
- →PCBUs requiring hydro excavation and potholing.
- →PCBU safety managers and supervisors coordinating the high-pressure-water, services and plant 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 trailer-mounted hydro excavator operation hazards — each with a documented consequence, inherent risk rating on a 5x5 likelihood-consequence matrix, hierarchy-of-control measures, and residual risk rating.
- ✓Hydro excavator prompts referencing the excavation and plant Codes of Practice, a high-pressure-water section, a services and potholing section, and a vacuum and traffic 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
An operator is engaged to run a trailer-mounted hydro excavation unit for potholing. The high-pressure water is managed against injection and laceration injury, keeping all parts of the body clear of the high-pressure jet, with the correct technique and equipment. The underground services are located through Before You Dig Australia and exposed safely, with the hydro excavation used to expose them non-destructively. The vacuum and spoil tank, and the pressurised system and discharge, are managed safely. The trailer-mounted plant and hoses are operated safely. The spoil and slurry, and the manual handling of hoses, are managed. Electrical contact through the water is managed by treating exposed services as live and using non-conductive methods where appropriate. Where excavating near a road, the traffic is managed. Where the excavation exceeds 1.5 metres or the work is on a road, a SWMS is prepared for the high risk construction work. The hydro excavation 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
What is the main hazard in hydro excavation?
The hazards are the high-pressure water and its injection injury risk, the underground services, the vacuum and spoil tank, and the trailer-mounted plant. These are managed with the high-pressure-water, services, vacuum and plant controls.
Why is high-pressure water dangerous?
The high-pressure water can cause severe injection and laceration injury if it contacts the body, so it is managed by keeping all parts of the body clear of the high-pressure jet, with the correct technique and equipment. Managing the high-pressure water against injection injury is the defining control in hydro excavation.
Is hydro excavation high risk construction work?
Where the hydro excavation creates a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 metres, or the work is on or adjacent to a road, it is high risk construction work requiring a SWMS before the work commences. Hydro excavation triggers the shaft-depth and traffic-corridor high risk construction work categories where those conditions apply.
Why is hydro excavation used for service location?
Hydro excavation uses high-pressure water and vacuum to expose services non-destructively, reducing the risk of a service strike compared with mechanical excavation, with the services located through Before You Dig Australia first. Using hydro excavation to expose services non-destructively reduces the service-strike hazard during potholing.
Who operates a hydro excavator?
Trailer-mounted hydro excavator operation is carried out by competent operators in connection with the excavation and plant requirements, with the high-pressure-water, services, vacuum and plant controls, and a SWMS for the high risk construction work where it applies. The hydro excavation is carried out with the water, services and plant managed.