Concrete Drilling & Coring Silica SWMS
Diamond core drilling and percussion drilling into concrete and masonry — wet or vacuum extraction, RPE, health surveillance for operators.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Concrete drilling and core drilling cut a cylindrical or bored hole through concrete, masonry or reinforced slabs, and every revolution of the bit liberates respirable crystalline silica (RCS) from material that is commonly 20 to 40 per cent crystalline silica by mass. The respirable fraction is invisible and cannot be felt as it is breathed, yet it is the fraction that lodges in the deep lung and drives silicosis, lung cancer and progressive massive fibrosis. Coring also concentrates the hazard at the operator's breathing zone because the bit is held close to the body, which is why drilling and coring are treated as distinct high-risk silica activities under the crystalline silica provisions of the model Work Health and Safety Regulations rather than as routine drilling.
The controlling figure is the workplace exposure standard for RCS: 0.05 mg/m3 as an eight-hour time-weighted average, which must not be exceeded, and which is reframed as a workplace exposure limit from 1 December 2026. Processing of a crystalline silica substance — which includes drilling and coring concrete — is high risk where it is reasonably likely to result in a risk to health, with the practical trigger being airborne RCS above half the exposure standard generated regularly. Where the work is high risk, the duty holder must prepare a silica risk control plan before the work starts, train exposed workers, conduct air monitoring, and provide health monitoring through a registered medical practitioner. Wet coring with a water-fed core barrel is the dominant engineering control because it suppresses dust at the point of generation; this document treats dry coring without extraction as a method of last resort that will breach the standard unless rigorously controlled.
Hazards identified
10 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Silicosis, lung cancer and progressive massive fibrosis from cumulative inhalation
Airborne RCS well above the exposure standard at the operator's breathing zone
Electrocution, explosion, flooding or violent tendon release where services are not located
Wrist, hand and arm injury, or the operator being thrown where the tool is not braced
Impact and crush injury to workers below from a dislodged concrete core
Electrocution where water and powered tools combine without RCD protection
Permanent noise-induced hearing loss without effective hearing protection
Hand-arm vibration syndrome and permanent loss of grip and sensation
Slips and falls, and environmental breach where slurry enters stormwater
Renewed inhalation exposure where dry sweeping or compressed air is used
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination: design out the penetration where reasonably practicable — specify cast-in sleeves, voids or pre-formed holes so no on-site silica-generating drilling is required.
- 2Substitution: where a method choice exists, select wet diamond coring over percussive dry drilling, which generates far higher RCS for the same hole.
- 3Engineering: use a water-fed core barrel or water-fed drill that delivers water to the cutting face at the manufacturer's specified flow as the primary dust control, or on-tool dust extraction through an H-class (HEPA) vacuum where water cannot be used.
- 4Engineering: locate, prove and isolate all embedded services and post-tensioned tendons before drilling using as-built drawings, a service locator and concrete scanning, and adjust the hole position to clear them.
- 5Engineering: brace or rig-mount the core drill, and protect against electric shock with residual current device protection where water-fed tools are used near power.
- 6Administrative: assess the task for silica risk and, where it is high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance, prepare a silica risk control plan before the work starts and arrange air monitoring to validate the controls hold below the exposure standard.
- 7Administrative: enrol workers carrying out high-risk silica work in health monitoring supervised by a registered medical practitioner, including respiratory function testing and low-dose high-resolution chest CT, and retain the records confidentially for at least 30 years.
- 8Administrative: barricade beneath and around overhead and floor coring to control falling cores, restrict access to the work zone, and rotate operators to limit exposure and vibration dose.
- 9PPE: a fit-tested P2 half-face respirator as the minimum residual control, upgraded to a powered air-purifying respirator for extended or higher-exposure coring, selected and maintained per AS/NZS 1715 and AS/NZS 1716.
- 10PPE: hearing protection matched to the measured noise level, eye protection to AS/NZS 1337.1, gloves, and Class I or Class II safety footwear with protective toecap to AS/NZS 2210.3.
- 11Administrative: all workers must hold a valid White Card (General Construction Induction Training, CPCCWHS1001) before entering any construction workplace.
- 12Administrative: conduct a daily pre-start toolbox talk covering the coring scope, dust controls, services located, falling-core controls and required PPE, and record attendance in the SWMS consultation section.
- 13Administrative: clean up with an H-class vacuum or wet methods only — never dry sweep or use compressed air, which re-suspends settled RCS — and contain slurry so it does not enter stormwater.
- 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.
Applicable Codes of Practice
The current national code setting out the risk assessment, silica risk control plan, air monitoring and health monitoring duties for processing crystalline silica substances such as concrete.
Controls and the exposure standard for the high noise levels generated by core drills and percussion drills.
Selection, fit testing, use and maintenance of the P2 and powered respiratory protection required as a residual control against RCS.
Residual current device protection and electrical safety for water-fed drilling near power on construction sites.
Eye protection against ejected fragments and slurry, and foot protection against falling cores and offcuts.
High-Risk Silica Work triggered
Drilling and core drilling concrete is processing of a crystalline silica substance under the model WHS Regulations. Where it is reasonably likely to generate airborne RCS above half the workplace exposure standard on a regular basis it is high-risk processing, which triggers the duty to prepare a silica risk control plan, train exposed workers, conduct air monitoring and provide health monitoring. This crystalline silica regime is distinct from, and additional to, the Schedule 1 high risk construction work categories.
Concrete drilling and coring that is high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance carries duties to prepare and follow a silica risk control plan before the work commences, to train exposed workers in silica health risks and controls, to conduct air monitoring where there is uncertainty that the exposure standard is met, and to provide health monitoring through a registered medical practitioner, with health monitoring records kept confidentially for at least 30 years. Air monitoring results that exceed the standard must be notified to the regulator within the prescribed period. Where the drilling forms part of broader construction work it may also fall within a Schedule 1 high risk construction work category requiring a SWMS. Failure to control RCS exposure breaches the primary duty of care under the model WHS Act and is actively enforced, with offence categories running from failure-to-comply through to reckless conduct. Body-corporate maxima are substantial and indexed; the current maximum follows the prevailing schedule of the responsible regulator.
Who this is for
- →Core drilling and concrete drilling contractors operating water-fed core rigs and hand-held drills.
- →Civil and structural crews coring slabs, walls and footings for services and fixings.
- →Plumbers, electricians, fire and mechanical trades drilling penetrations through concrete.
- →Remediation and structural-repair contractors coring for sampling, anchors or stitch repairs.
- →PCBU safety managers and site supervisors authorising silica-generating drilling and overseeing the silica risk control plan.
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 address, project name, principal contractor details, and document revision date.
- ✓Hazard register with the concrete drilling and coring silica hazards — each with a documented consequence, inherent risk rating on a 5x5 likelihood-consequence matrix, hierarchy-of-control measures, and residual risk rating.
- ✓Silica risk control plan prompts aligned to the model crystalline silica Code of Practice, with an air-monitoring trigger and record field referencing the 0.05 mg/m3 exposure standard.
- ✓Service-location and post-tensioned-tendon check prompts, and a respiratory protection selection and fit-test record per AS/NZS 1715.
- ✓Falling-core control prompts for overhead and floor coring, and a health monitoring prompt and register for high-risk silica workers.
- ✓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 drilling contractor is engaged to core forty 150 mm penetrations through a 200 mm reinforced suspended slab for hydraulic and electrical risers across two levels of a commercial building. Because of the number of cores and the enclosed level, the supervisor assesses the work as high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance, prepares a silica risk control plan, and books air monitoring for the first shift to confirm the controls hold below the exposure standard. The slab is scanned to locate reinforcement and two post-tensioned tendons, and the core positions are shifted to clear them. Each core is cut with a rig-mounted water-fed core barrel delivering water to the cutting face, with residual current device protection on the power supply because water and electricity are present together. The area below each core is barricaded and a spotter confirms it is clear before the core is broken out, controlling the falling-core hazard. Operators wear fit-tested P2 respirators, moving to powered air-purifying respirators for the sustained coring runs, with hearing and eye protection. Slurry is contained at each core and prevented from reaching the stormwater system, and the levels are cleaned with an H-class vacuum at the end of each shift rather than swept. Personal monitoring returns results below the exposure standard, the records are retained, and the operators are enrolled in health monitoring with a registered medical practitioner.
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 crystalline silica provisions governing processing of a crystalline silica substance, the high-risk processing definition, the silica risk control plan, training, air monitoring and health monitoring, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
- Workplace exposure standard for respirable crystalline silica: 0.05 mg/m3 (eight-hour time-weighted average), which must not be exceeded; reframed as a workplace exposure limit from 1 December 2026.
- From 1 September 2024, stronger regulation of work with all materials containing at least 1 per cent crystalline silica across all industries.
- Victoria operates under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, with the silica provisions and Compliance Codes applying in place of the model instruments.
Frequently asked questions
Is wet coring sufficient to comply with the silica rules?
Water-fed coring is the foundational engineering control and sharply reduces airborne respirable crystalline silica, but compliance is measured by whether exposure is kept below the workplace exposure standard of 0.05 mg/m3 over eight hours. For high-volume or enclosed coring, residual respiratory protection and, where the work is high risk, air monitoring are needed to demonstrate the standard is met rather than assumed.
How do we manage electric shock risk when water-fed drilling near power?
Water and powered tools together raise the electrocution risk, so the supply must be protected by a residual current device, the equipment inspected and tested, and the work positioned and bonded to keep water away from electrical connections. Where coring is close to live services, those services are located and isolated before the core is started.
What respiratory protection is required for drilling and coring?
At minimum a fit-tested P2 half-face respirator, upgraded to a powered air-purifying respirator for extended or higher-exposure work, selected and maintained per AS/NZS 1715 and AS/NZS 1716. Respiratory protection is a residual control beneath water feed and on-tool extraction in the hierarchy and manages the exposure that remains after those engineering controls are applied.
Why is health monitoring required and how long are records kept?
Health monitoring is required for workers carrying out high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance. It is supervised by a registered medical practitioner and includes respiratory function testing and low-dose high-resolution chest CT as advised, with the worker receiving a copy of the report. Health monitoring records must be kept confidential for at least 30 years after the record is made.
Does the engineered stone ban apply to coring concrete?
No. The prohibition that commenced on 1 July 2024 applies to engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs. Concrete is a separate crystalline silica substance and is not banned, but drilling and coring it remains subject to the strengthened crystalline silica provisions that apply to all materials containing at least one per cent crystalline silica.