Hydrodemolition SWMS
NSW — Hydrodemolition. Full task scope, hazards and controls to be authored to Phase 1 standard.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Hydrodemolition is selective concrete removal by high-pressure water jetting, typically to expose and preserve reinforcement for repair. It is high risk construction work under the WHS Regulation because it can involve structural alteration requiring temporary support, work on or near energised services, work more than 2 m above the ground, the movement of powered mobile plant including robotic jetting units, and work in or near accumulated water with a risk of drowning (s291), so a SWMS is mandatory (s299). The dominant hazard is the high-pressure water jet itself: direct contact causes catastrophic laceration or amputation, and a fluid-injection injury from a jet — often a small, innocuous-looking wound — is a surgical emergency that can lead to amputation or death if not treated immediately. Around it sit structural collapse from over-removal of a load-bearing member without support, the powered plant and electrical hazards of robotic units and high-pressure pumps (rotating parts, hot surfaces, fuel), the accumulation of high-pH alkaline wastewater (drowning risk in confined bunds and skin/eye burns), falls at deck edges and soffits, and very high noise. The SWMS controls the jetting exclusion, the structural sequence, wastewater management, fall protection and noise. It supports the engineered removal scope and does not replace it. It is supplied in eight jurisdiction editions, each citing its own Act, Regulation and regulator.
Hazards identified
8 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Catastrophic soft-tissue and limb injury (dominant hazard)
Delayed recognition leading to amputation or death
Uncontrolled structural collapse
Drowning in a bund or confined area, and alkaline burns (WHS Reg — risk of drowning)
Struck-by, entanglement, burns or fuel/rotating-part injury
Electrocution near embedded or adjacent services
Fall fatality or serious injury (WHS Reg Part 4.4)
Noise-induced hearing loss
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination — Use a robotic/remote jetting unit so no operator is ever in the jet path or reaction zone
- 2Substitution — Substitute automated multi-axis jetting for hand-lance work, and lower-pressure techniques where the removal spec allows
- 3Engineering — Jet exclusion zone with no personnel in the path or ricochet arc, dead-man controls and reaction-force restraint on any lance
- 4Engineering — Temporary support to the structure before removal of any load-bearing section, staged per the engineer
- 5Engineering — Wastewater capture, bunding, pH treatment and pump-out so no worker can be trapped in accumulated alkaline water, and edge protection at decks and soffits
- 6Administrative — High-pressure water-jetting competency (WJTA/manufacturer safe-operating codes), a jetting permit, and an injection-injury emergency plan with immediate-referral instructions
- 7Administrative — Structural sequence with hold points, service isolation, and noise exposure management
- 8Administrative — Exclusion of the public and other trades from the jetting and wastewater zone
- 9PPE — Jet-resistant protective clothing and footwear, face/eye protection, and hearing protection
- 10PPE — Alkali-resistant gloves for wastewater contact and fall-arrest where working at height
Applicable Codes of Practice
Duties for selective removal and structural control
Duties for robotic units and high-pressure pumps
General construction duties and SWMS requirements
Duties for pump and jetting noise
Reference for the high-pressure pump and piping
Reference for fall-arrest at deck edges and soffits
Reference for access provisions
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Removal at deck edges and soffits is carried out more than 2 m above the ground.
Removal of load-bearing sections requires temporary support to prevent collapse.
Work is on or near energised embedded or adjacent electrical services.
Robotic jetting units and high-pressure pumps operate in the work area.
Accumulated high-pH wastewater creates a risk of drowning in bunds and confined areas.
Who this is for
- →Hydrodemolition contractors
- →Concrete repair and remediation contractors
- →Bridge and wharf maintenance contractors
- →Infrastructure asset owners' contractors
- →High-pressure water-jetting operators
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
At 7:00 am a crew from Aquaject Remediation sets up to remove deteriorated concrete from a bridge deck soffit and expose the reinforcement. The removal is run by a robotic jetting unit so no one is ever in the jet path — the supervisor is explicit that the injection-injury risk means hand-lancing is a last resort, and if it is used the operator is on a dead-man control with reaction restraint and the crew know a small jet wound is a surgical emergency requiring immediate referral. Before removal, the engineer's staging is confirmed and temporary support is placed so no load-bearing section is over-removed. The high-pH wastewater is captured in a bund, pH-treated and pumped out continuously so it cannot accumulate and trap anyone, and the crew handling it wear alkali-resistant gloves and eye protection. Work at the deck edge and soffit is edge-protected and the crew are on fall-arrest. Embedded services in the removal zone are isolated. Everyone wears hearing protection against the pump. The section is removed to the engineered depth with hold points signed, and the exposed steel is handed over for repair.
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 (model)
- WHS Regulation 2025
- Demolition Work Code of Practice
- AS 4041 Pressure piping
Frequently asked questions
Is hydrodemolition high risk construction work?
Yes, and typically on several of the section 291 grounds at once. Removing a load-bearing section means structural alteration requiring temporary support, s291(e). Work on or near embedded or adjacent energised services is s291(k). Removal at deck edges and soffits above 2 m is s291(a). Robotic jetting units and high-pressure pumps working in the area bring in s291(o). The one people miss is s291(q) — work in or near water or other liquid that involves a risk of drowning — because captured wastewater accumulates in bunds and confined areas. Section 299 then requires the SWMS before work starts.
Why is a small wound from the jet treated as an emergency?
Because it is a fluid-injection injury, not a cut. A high-pressure jet drives water and debris deep under the skin through an entry wound that can look trivial and barely bleed, while the tissue damage tracks along the fascial planes well beyond it. Delayed recognition is what costs the limb. The SWMS requires an injection-injury emergency plan with immediate-referral instructions carried by the crew, so anyone struck goes straight to hospital and is presented as a suspected injection injury rather than sent to first aid for a dressing. Every operator is briefed on this before the pump runs.
Can the whole job be done robotically, or do we still need a hand lance?
Robotic removal is the primary control precisely because it keeps every person out of the jet path and the reaction zone, and automated multi-axis jetting is preferred wherever the removal specification allows. Hand-lancing is treated as a last resort, not an equivalent option. Where it cannot be avoided, the operator works on a dead-man control with reaction-force restraint, holds high-pressure water-jetting competency to the recognised industry and manufacturer safe-operating codes, and works under a jetting permit whose exclusion zone accounts for the ricochet arc as well as the direct path of the jet.
What has to happen to the wastewater?
It is captured, bunded, pH-treated and pumped out continuously rather than allowed to pond. Hydrodemolition water comes off the concrete strongly alkaline, so it burns skin and eyes and cannot go to stormwater untreated — crews handling it wear alkali-resistant gloves and eye protection. The safety reason for continuous pump-out is separate from the environmental one: accumulated water in a bund or confined area is a drowning risk, which is what brings the work under s291(q). Standing alkaline water also hides trip hazards and slick surfaces on a deck the crew works across all shift.
Does this suit selective repair work on bridge decks and wharves?
Yes — that is the core application. Hydrodemolition removes deteriorated concrete while leaving sound material and the reinforcement intact, which is why it is used on bridge soffits, decks and wharf structures ahead of repair. The SWMS controls the work around the engineer's removal scope: temporary support before any load-bearing section is taken, removal to the specified depth, and hold points signed as each stage completes. It supports that engineered scope rather than replacing it, so the removal depth, the staging and the structural assessment still come from the asset owner's engineer.
Document details
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