Bored Pier & Pile Concreting SWMS

Bored pier and pile concreting involves placing reinforcement cages and discharging fluid concrete into augered shafts that frequently exceed two metres in depth and form part of a building's foundation system. The task combines confined shaft hazards, powered mobile plant interaction (concrete trucks, line pumps, piling rigs, telehandlers, service cranes), manual handling of heavy tremie sections and chute components, and time-critical pour management before initial set. Under WHS Regulation 2025 section 291, work in or near a shaft deeper than 1.5 m is classified as High Risk Construction Work, mandating a Safe Work Method Statement be prepared, signed by all workers, and kept available on site until the task is complete. The PCBU must consult workers during development, communicate the SWMS at pre-start, and review it whenever site conditions, plant or sequence change. This SWMS addresses shaft cleanout, cage handling, tremie or pump-line pour, level monitoring and post-settlement top-up in a single integrated document.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.

1. 1Elimination — Where pier design allows, eliminate manual shaft entry by specifying full-depth permanent casing and surface-discharge tremie methods at the design review stage.
2. 2Elimination — Sequence works so reinforcement cage fabrication occurs offsite at ground-mounted jigs, removing the need for above-shaft welding or tying over an open hole.
3. 3Substitution — Substitute heavy steel tremie sections with lightweight aluminium or quick-coupling polymer-lined segments to reduce manual handling forces below 20 kg per lift.
4. 4Substitution — Replace open chute discharge with closed boom-pump placement to remove concrete free-fall splash exposure to workers at the shaft collar.
5. 5Engineering — Install proprietary edge-protection collars, mesh covers and 1.0 m hard barricades at every shaft immediately after auger withdrawal per AS 2865 confined space and AS/NZS 4994 fall protection principles.
6. 6Engineering — Use radio-equipped concrete pump operators, line-pressure relief valves and certified clamps on every coupling, with hose whip restraints fitted at all reducers.
7. 7Administrative — Conduct pre-start brief using this SWMS, confirm exclusion zones, nominate a single dogger/spotter for cage lifts, and verify high-risk work licences for crane and pump operators.
8. 8Administrative — Implement a permit-to-pour system requiring shaft depth, cleanout, cage tolerance and groundwater checks to be signed off before any concrete leaves the agitator.
9. 9Administrative — Rotate workers off finishing and top-up tasks every 60 minutes to limit cumulative wet concrete contact and manual handling exposure during continuous pours.
10. 10PPE — Issue alkali-resistant gauntlets, full-length waterproof trousers, sealed safety boots, sealed safety glasses or face shield for pump operators, hi-vis, and hard hat with chinstrap near suspended loads.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

On a mid-rise residential basement project, a piling crew is scheduled to pour twelve 900 mm diameter bored piers averaging 14 metres deep across a single day shift. At the 6:30 am pre-start, the leading hand opens this SWMS on the site tablet and walks the four-person crew, the pump operator, the dogger and the agitator driver through each hazard line by line. When reviewing the shaft engulfment hazard, the dogger flags that the steel collars from yesterday are still stacked at the laydown — the supervisor pauses the brief, sends two workers to refit collars and mesh covers to all uncast shafts, and updates the daily addendum. The crew confirms the exclusion zone radius for the line pump, agrees on a single radio channel between dogger and pump operator, and each worker signs the SWMS register. Mid-pour on pier seven, the pump line develops a partial blockage. Because the SWMS pre-identified whip risk, the operator already has the whip restraint fitted and clears the line from outside the exclusion zone using the pre-agreed pressure-relief procedure. The supervisor records the deviation, briefs the change at smoko, and the crew re-signs the amended SWMS before the afternoon piers are poured, demonstrating live document use rather than shelf compliance.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• AS 2550 — Cranes, hoists and winches; AS 1418 series

Frequently asked questions