Core Drilling SWMS
Diamond and hammer core drilling for geotechnical, environmental, mineral-exploration and civil-investigation sampling — rig set-up, ground-condition assessment, core recovery, fluid-drilling management, down-hole ergonomics and isolated-site emergency response.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Core drilling for geotechnical, environmental, mineral-exploration and civil-investigation programs combines powered rotary plant, high-pressure drilling fluids, suspended loads and frequently remote or single-operator worksites. The activity engages Chapter 4 Part 4.5 of the Model WHS Regulations 2025 covering plant duties, registration of rotating-shaft hazards and operator competency, and is captured as High Risk Construction Work under WHS Regulation 291 when undertaken alongside trenching, shafts or powered mobile plant near workers. State mining safety legislation — WA MSHR 2022, NSW WHS (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation and Queensland CMSHR — imposes overlapping duties for exploration drilling on tenements. A documented Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory before mobilisation: it satisfies the PCBU's duty under s19 of the WHS Act to identify foreseeable hazards, applies the hierarchy of control under Regulation 36, and provides the auditable record required when an inspector, principal contractor or tenement holder requests evidence of consultation under s47.
Hazards identified
7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Degloving, traumatic amputation of upper limb or fatal drawing-in injury requiring notification under WHS Act s38
High-pressure fluid injection injury, crush from falling mast or fatal strike from whipping hose under 250 bar
Engulfment of rig offsider, loss of downhole tooling and potential undermining of rig tracks causing rollover
Accelerated silicosis, lung cancer and notifiable occupational disease under WHS Regulation 529 silica register
Acute lumbar disc injury, chronic musculoskeletal disorder and workers compensation claim exceeding statutory thresholds
Electrocution, gas ignition, asset-owner prosecution and Dial Before You Dig non-compliance notification
Untreated trauma, hypothermia or envenomation progressing to fatality before retrieval, breaching first-aid Regulation 42
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination — Where target data can be obtained from existing borehole logs or non-intrusive geophysics (seismic, GPR), eliminate core drilling from the scope entirely.
- 2Elimination — Remove personnel from the rotation envelope during tripping by specifying remote rod-handling systems and hands-free breakout wrenches on all rigs over 50kW.
- 3Substitution — Substitute dry drilling with wet rotary using water or polymer mud to suppress respirable silica below the 0.05 mg/m³ workplace exposure standard per Regulation 49.
- 4Substitution — Replace manual rod-handling with hydraulic rod-loaders or carousel feed systems on holes deeper than 30 metres to remove repetitive lifting above 20kg.
- 5Engineering — Install compliant guarding to AS 4024.1-2019 around rotation head, chuck and rod-string, interlocked to stop rotation when the guard is opened.
- 6Engineering — Use cased collar to 2m depth with steel surface casing grouted in unconsolidated ground, plus exclusion bunting at the 1.5m collar zone per state mining drilling code.
- 7Administrative — Complete Dial Before You Dig search within 28 days, conduct cable-location sweep with CAT4+ Genny, and pothole to 1.5m by hydro-excavation prior to spudding.
- 8Administrative — Implement journey-management plan with two-hourly check-ins via satellite communicator, documented PACE escalation and rehearsed retrieval procedure for isolated crews.
- 9PPE — Mandate P2 half-face respirator with annual fit-testing to AS/NZS 1715, impact-rated safety glasses, hi-vis day/night to AS/NZS 4602.1 and Class 3 vibration-damped gloves.
- 10PPE — Issue cut-resistant Level D gloves only outside the rotation zone, hearing protection rated SLC80 ≥26dB and flame-resistant coveralls where exploration drilling near gas seams.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Specifies fixed and interlocked guarding requirements for rotating drill components, directly satisfying the plant control duty under WHS Regulation 208.
Establishes welfare, hydration and remote-site amenity benchmarks for exploration drilling crews working beyond 30 minutes from fixed facilities.
Triggers atmospheric monitoring, entry permit and standby attendant duties under WHS Regulation 67 for downhole or in-shaft coring activity.
Applies to collar pads, sump excavations and trenching greater than 1.5m, requiring engineered ground support and underground service location.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Tracked and truck-mounted core rigs are powered mobile plant operating with workers on foot inside the rotation and tripping envelope.
Coring conducted from within shafts, decline portals or sample sumps creates restricted-entry atmospheres with limited egress and oxygen deficiency potential.
Collar excavations, mud-sumps and geotechnical test-pits routinely exceed 1.5m, exposing offsiders to engulfment and falling-object hazards.
PCBU must consult workers under WHS Act s47, retain the SWMS for at least 2 years after the work or until a notifiable incident, with Category 1 penalties substantial and indexed; the current maximum follows the prevailing WHS schedule.
Who this is for
- →Exploration drilling contractors on mineral tenements
- →Geotechnical investigation crews for civil infrastructure
- →Environmental consultants conducting contamination coring
- →Principal contractors engaging drilling subcontractors on construction sites
What you receive
- ✓Editable DOCX template — Microsoft Word compatible
- ✓State-specific WHS legislation schedule (NSW/VIC/QLD/SA/WA/TAS/NT/ACT)
- ✓Hazard register with risk ratings + hierarchy-of-control mapping
- ✓Worker sign-on register, pre-start checklist, and incident escalation flow
Worked example
On a regional highway-upgrade geotechnical investigation, a two-person crew mobilises a tracked HQ core rig to a verge location flanked by a live carriageway and a buried 11kV feeder. At the 06:30 pre-start brief, the driller-in-charge opens the Core Drilling SWMS on a tablet and walks the offsider through Hazards 1, 2 and 6 — rotating-shaft entanglement, hydraulic mast energy and underground services strike. Together they verify the Dial Before You Dig plans against the painted marks, confirm the cable-locator sweep was completed the previous afternoon, and identify that the planned BH-03 collar sits within 1.2m of the located 11kV alignment. Applying the administrative control, they relocate the hole 2.5m laterally and hydro-excavate the collar to 1.5m before spudding. Both workers sign the SWMS on the device, recording their tickets and competencies. During tripping at 18m, ground conditions change to running sand; the offsider stops work, references the borehole-collapse hazard row, and they install surface casing and switch to polymer mud before continuing. The SWMS amendment is annotated, time-stamped and re-signed in the field, providing the auditable consultation record the principal contractor's WHS coordinator inspects during the weekly site walk.
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 (model)
- WHS Regulation 2025
- AS 2865 — Confined spaces
Frequently asked questions
Is core drilling high risk construction work?
It depends where the rig is standing. On a construction or civil investigation project it commonly is: WHS Regulation s291(o) applies because tracked and truck-mounted rigs are powered mobile plant with workers on foot inside the tripping envelope, s291(g)(i) applies to collar excavations, mud sumps and test pits deeper than 1.5 m, and s291(f) applies where coring is done from inside a shaft, decline portal or sample sump. Section 299 then requires the SWMS before mobilisation. On a mineral tenement, state mining safety legislation imposes its own overlapping duties instead.
Does core drilling create a respirable silica risk?
Yes, from two directions people often overlook: dry-cuttings discharge at the collar and core splitting back at the tray. The primary control is substitution — wet rotary drilling using water or polymer mud to suppress respirable crystalline silica below the 0.05 mg/m3 workplace exposure standard — rather than relying on the respirator. Where dust is still generated, a P2 half-face respirator with annual fit testing under AS/NZS 1715 applies, and exposed workers are entered on the silica register, since accelerated silicosis and lung cancer are notifiable occupational disease outcomes.
What has to happen before spudding near underground services?
A search, a sweep and a hole you can see into. The document requires a Dial Before You Dig search completed within 28 days, a cable-location sweep with a locator and signal generator, and hydro-excavation of the collar to 1.5 m before the bit turns. The worked example shows why the sequence matters: the planned collar sits 1.2 m from a located 11 kV feeder, so the hole is relocated 2.5 m laterally and the collar is potholed before spudding. Plans are verified against the painted marks, not accepted on their own.
How is entanglement in the rotation head prevented?
Guard it, then keep hands out of the envelope entirely. Guarding around the rotation head, chuck and rod string complies with AS/NZS 4024.1 and is interlocked so rotation stops when the guard is opened. Above that, rigs over 50 kW use remote rod-handling systems and hands-free breakout wrenches, and holes deeper than 30 metres use hydraulic rod-loaders or carousel feed to remove repetitive lifting of NQ and HQ rods. Note the deliberate restriction on gloves: cut-resistant gloves are issued for work outside the rotation zone only, because a glove is what drags an arm in.
How are remote and single-operator drill pads managed?
Through a journey management plan rather than a phone call when someone remembers. Two-hourly check-ins run via satellite communicator because mobile coverage cannot be assumed, with a documented escalation sequence and a rehearsed retrieval procedure for crews beyond normal emergency response. The hazard row is blunt about the consequence: untreated trauma, hypothermia or envenomation progressing to a fatality before anyone arrives. You receive an editable Word document, so field changes — like switching to surface casing and polymer mud when running sand appears — are annotated, time-stamped and re-signed on the spot.
Document details
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