Block Caving Mining Operations SWMS
Sublevel caving and block cave drawpoint operations. Hangup management, secondary blasting at drawpoint, oversize handling, rockburst risk. Top-tier specialist scope; Cadia, Newcrest, Rio operations.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Mining block caving is a large-scale underground mass-mining method in which a large block of ore is undercut so that it progressively collapses, or caves, under its own weight, and the broken ore is drawn off through drawpoints below. It is among the most productive underground methods, but the controlled collapse of a massive volume of rock makes ground behaviour the dominant hazard: uncontrolled caving, air blasts when a void collapses suddenly, mudrushes from wet broken ore, drawpoint instability, and seismicity induced by the redistribution of stress as the cave grows. The method depends on the cave behaving as designed, which it does not always do. This document is written on the basis that block caving is engineered and continuously monitored as a ground-control operation, with cave propagation, drawpoint condition and seismicity managed against defined responses.
Block caving is governed by the dual mining regime: the model Work Health and Safety Regulations, under which underground work, work in or near a confined space and the movement of powered mobile plant are high risk construction work requiring a safe work method statement, and the Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations, under which ground or strata instability and inrush are principal mining hazards requiring a principal mining hazard management plan, with a ventilation control plan for the underground mine. Respirable dust, crystalline silica and diesel particulate matter are controlled against their exposure standards. This document coordinates the cave-management, drawpoint, air-blast, mudrush, seismicity and ventilation controls so the orebody is caved and drawn without a ground-control failure.
Hazards identified
9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Air blast, sudden subsidence or loss of control of the caving process
A pressure wave through the underground workings causing fatal injury
Engulfment and burial of workers and equipment at the drawpoint
Rock falls, brow failure and injury during hang-up clearing
Rockburst and ground failure in the development and extraction levels
Silicosis and respiratory disease from cumulative dust inhalation
Carcinogenic diesel exhaust exposure in the confined underground atmosphere
Accumulation of dust, diesel particulate and gases underground
Flooding and engulfment from an uncontrolled inflow
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Engineering: design and manage the cave to a cave-management plan — undercut sequence, draw control and cave monitoring — by competent mining and geotechnical engineers, with cave-propagation and air-gap monitoring and defined trigger-action responses.
- 2Engineering: manage drawpoints to control mudrush and hang-ups — draw-control discipline, moisture and fines monitoring, remote or mechanised hang-up clearing, and brow maintenance.
- 3Engineering: a seismic monitoring system with exclusion and re-entry protocols after seismic events, and ground support designed for the dynamic loading of a caving environment.
- 4Engineering: forced underground ventilation to a ventilation control plan that dilutes and removes dust, diesel particulate and gases, with monitoring of the underground atmosphere and the diesel particulate matter exposure standard, currently 0.1 mg/m3 as an eight-hour time-weighted average measured as sub-micron elemental carbon, with a Workplace Exposure Limit of 0.01 mg/m3 measured as respirable elemental carbon applying from 1 December 2026.
- 5Administrative: prepare principal mining hazard management plans for ground or strata instability, inrush and any other identified principal hazards, and a SWMS for the high risk construction work — underground and confined space work and movement of powered mobile plant.
- 6Administrative: air monitoring for respirable dust, crystalline silica and diesel particulate against the respirable crystalline silica workplace exposure standard of 0.05 mg/m3 (eight-hour time-weighted average), reframed as a workplace exposure limit from 1 December 2026, with exceedances reported to the regulator and the diesel standard, with health monitoring for silica-exposed workers and records retained.
- 7Administrative: inrush risk assessment and controls for water and material from old workings and the cave, and remote or mechanised operation at drawpoints to keep workers out of the line of fire.
- 8Administrative: all workers must hold a valid White Card (General Construction Induction Training, CPCCWHS1001) where construction work applies, and the mining inductions, statutory tickets and competencies required for the mine before entering the operation.
- 9Administrative: conduct a pre-shift toolbox talk covering the day's work, the principal mining hazards and their controls, atmospheric and ground conditions, plant movements, required PPE and emergency procedures, and record attendance in the consultation section.
- 10Administrative: consult workers and health and safety representatives on the work and its risks, record the consultation, and keep this document and the relevant plans available at the operation.
- 11PPE: underground or site high-visibility clothing, head protection, eye protection to AS/NZS 1337.1, hearing protection matched to the measured noise, gloves, and Class I or Class II safety footwear with protective toecap to AS/NZS 2210.3.
- 12Administrative: review and update this SWMS and the relevant principal mining hazard management plan whenever the work, the ground or atmospheric conditions, the plant or the controls change, after any incident or near miss, when a worker or health and safety representative raises a concern, or at minimum every 12 months.
Applicable Codes of Practice
The mining-specific regulations requiring identification of principal mining hazards and a principal mining hazard management plan for each, within the mine safety management system.
The risk management process and hierarchy of controls applied to the principal mining hazards of the work.
The risk assessment, silica risk control plan, air monitoring and health monitoring duties where the work generates respirable crystalline silica.
Controls and the exposure standard for the high noise levels generated by mining and processing plant.
Selection, fit testing, use and maintenance of the respiratory protection required for the dust, diesel particulate, silica and atmospheric hazards of the work.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Underground extraction and development levels that may be oxygen-deficient or have a contaminated atmosphere bring the work within the confined space category, with its atmospheric, ventilation and rescue controls.
Underground loaders and trucks operate at the drawpoints and on the extraction level, bringing the work within this category and driving the plant-and-pedestrian separation controls.
This work is governed by the dual mining regime. Under the model WHS Regulations it is high risk construction work — engaging the categories above — 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. Under the Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations the mine operator must identify the principal mining hazards relating to ground or strata instability and the controlled caving of the orebody and prepare a principal mining hazard management plan for each, within the mine safety management system. Where the work generates respirable crystalline silica, the silica risk control plan, air monitoring and health monitoring duties apply, with the exposure standard reframed as a workplace exposure limit from 1 December 2026. Mining incidents in this category can be catastrophic, and breaches of the primary duty of care under the model WHS Act and the mines legislation 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
- →Underground block-cave mine operators and mining contractors.
- →Cave-management, draw-control and drawpoint crews.
- →Underground loader and truck operators on the extraction level.
- →Geotechnical, seismic and cave-management engineers.
- →Mine managers and supervisors overseeing the principal mining hazard management plans and the SWMS.
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 the mine operator and PCBU name, ABN, site address, project name, principal contractor details, and document revision date.
- ✓Hazard register with the mining block caving hazards — each with a documented consequence, inherent risk rating on a 5x5 likelihood-consequence matrix, hierarchy-of-control measures, and residual risk rating.
- ✓Cave-management and draw-control prompts, a drawpoint mudrush and hang-up control section, seismic monitoring and re-entry protocol fields, and ventilation and air-monitoring record fields.
- ✓Principal mining hazard management plan reference prompts and, where relevant, a silica risk control plan aligned to the model crystalline silica Code of Practice referencing the 0.05 mg/m3 exposure standard.
- ✓Competency, statutory-ticket and induction verification fields, and a respiratory protection selection and fit-test record per AS/NZS 1715.
- ✓Worker consultation record and a worker sign-on register (blank, expandable).
- ✓Applicable legislation and Codes of Practice schedule pre-populated for the model WHS and mines jurisdiction with a state-variance reference table covering the harmonised states, plus Victoria.
- ✓Emergency procedure template and a revision log.
Worked example
An underground mine is extracting an orebody by block caving, undercutting a large block so it caves and drawing the broken ore through drawpoints. Because the work is underground in a potentially confined atmosphere with mobile plant on the extraction level, a SWMS is prepared, and principal mining hazard management plans are in place for ground or strata instability and inrush, with a ventilation control plan for the mine. The cave is designed and managed to a cave-management plan by competent mining and geotechnical engineers, with cave-propagation and air-gap monitoring and trigger-action responses to manage air-blast risk. Drawpoints are managed with draw-control discipline, moisture and fines monitoring to control mudrush, and remote or mechanised hang-up clearing keeps workers out of the line of fire. A seismic monitoring system governs exclusion and re-entry after seismic events, and ground support is designed for dynamic loading. Forced ventilation dilutes and removes dust, diesel particulate and gases, with atmospheric and diesel monitoring, and air monitoring tracks respirable dust and crystalline silica with health monitoring for exposed workers. Inrush controls address water and material from old workings and the cave. The plans, SWMS and monitoring records are 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 — Section 291 high risk construction work and the SWMS preparation and review duties, and where relevant the crystalline silica high-risk processing, silica risk control plan, air monitoring and health monitoring provisions, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
- Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation / Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations — identification of principal mining hazards, principal mining hazard management plans, the mine safety management system and, for underground mines, ventilation control plans, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
- Exposure standards: respirable crystalline silica 0.05 mg/m3 (eight-hour TWA), reframed as a workplace exposure limit from 1 December 2026; respirable dust and, in coal, the lower coal-mine dust standard; and diesel particulate matter, currently 0.1 mg/m3 (sub-micron elemental carbon) with a Workplace Exposure Limit of 0.01 mg/m3 (respirable elemental carbon) from 1 December 2026.
- Victoria, and other jurisdictions, operate their own mining safety and work health and safety legislation; in Victoria the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and Regulations 2017 and the relevant mining instruments apply in place of the model instruments.
Frequently asked questions
What is block caving and why is it hazardous?
Block caving undercuts a large block of ore so it progressively collapses under its own weight, with the broken ore drawn off through drawpoints below. The controlled collapse of a massive volume of rock makes ground behaviour the dominant hazard — uncontrolled caving, air blasts when a void collapses, mudrushes of wet broken ore, drawpoint instability and induced seismicity — so it is engineered and continuously monitored as a ground-control operation.
What is an air blast in block caving?
An air blast is a pressure wave generated when an air gap or void within the cave collapses suddenly, forcing air through the underground workings with enough force to cause fatal injury. It is managed by cave-propagation and air-gap monitoring with defined trigger-action responses, so that the cave is drawn to avoid the formation of large air gaps.
How is mudrush controlled at drawpoints?
Mudrush is a sudden inflow of wet, fine broken ore through a drawpoint that can engulf workers and equipment. It is controlled through draw-control discipline, monitoring of moisture and fines, remote or mechanised hang-up clearing, and keeping workers out of the line of fire at the drawpoint, within the inrush and ground-instability principal mining hazard management plans.
How is seismicity managed in a caving mine?
Caving redistributes stress as the cave grows, which can induce seismicity and rockbursts. A seismic monitoring system tracks events, exclusion and re-entry protocols govern access after a seismic event, and ground support is designed for the dynamic loading of a caving environment, all within the ground-instability principal mining hazard management plan.
What plans govern block-cave mining?
Under the mines regulations, the operator prepares principal mining hazard management plans for the principal hazards — including ground or strata instability and inrush — and a ventilation control plan for the underground mine, while a SWMS is required under the model WHS Regulations for the high risk construction work. Air monitoring, health monitoring for silica-exposed workers, and the cave-management plan sit within that framework.