Bord & Pillar Underground Mining SWMS
Bord and pillar underground coal extraction — continuous miner operations, ventilation, methane drainage, roof bolting. Pillar extraction sequencing and statutory inspection regimes.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Mining bord and pillar — also called room and pillar — is an underground method in which a network of openings, the bords or rooms, is driven through the orebody or coal seam, leaving pillars of in-situ material to support the overlying strata. The stability of those pillars and of the roof and ribs between them is the dominant hazard: a pillar failure, roof fall or rib failure can kill workers in the development and extraction areas, and the risk increases during pillar extraction, when pillars are partially or fully recovered on retreat and the roof is deliberately allowed to fail behind the line of extraction. This document is written on the basis that bord and pillar work is engineered as a strata-control operation, with pillar design, roof and rib support, and the extraction sequence managed against ground behaviour.
Bord and pillar mining is governed by the dual mining regime: the model Work Health and Safety Regulations, under which underground work, confined space work and 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 is a principal mining hazard requiring a principal mining hazard management plan, with a ventilation control plan for the underground mine and, in coal, the additional coal-specific controls. Respirable dust, crystalline silica, coal dust where relevant, and diesel particulate matter are controlled against their exposure standards. This document coordinates the pillar-design, roof-support, extraction-sequence and ventilation controls so the workings remain stable.
Hazards identified
9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Collapse of the supporting pillars and the overlying strata onto workers
Fatal crushing from unsupported or failing roof
Injury from material spalling from the pillar sides
Uncontrolled roof failure ahead of the planned line during pillar recovery
Silicosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis and mixed-dust disease
Carcinogenic diesel exhaust exposure in the confined underground atmosphere
Explosion or asphyxiation where gas accumulates or ventilation fails
Crush and run-over injury in the restricted underground space
Flooding and engulfment from an uncontrolled inflow
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Engineering: design pillars, bord widths and the extraction layout to a geotechnical and strata-control model by competent engineers, with pillar dimensions set for the depth, loading and material strength.
- 2Engineering: systematic roof and rib support — bolting, mesh and where required standing support — installed to a support plan, with roof and rib condition monitored and convergence measured.
- 3Engineering: a controlled pillar-extraction sequence on retreat where pillars are recovered, designed so the roof fails behind the line of extraction, with remote or mechanised operation and no workers under unsupported roof.
- 4Engineering: forced ventilation to a ventilation control plan with gas monitoring where flammable gas is present, and 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 a principal mining hazard management plan for ground or strata instability, and for fire or explosion and gas where relevant, 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, in coal, respirable coal dust 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, the coal dust standard and the diesel standard, with health monitoring and records retained.
- 7Administrative: inrush risk assessment for adjacent old workings, and competent strata-control supervision with authority to withdraw workers on adverse ground conditions.
- 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 bords, headings and intersections that may be oxygen-deficient or have a contaminated or flammable atmosphere bring the work within the confined space category and its controls.
Continuous miners, shuttle cars and other mobile plant operate in the confined headings, 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 strata and pillar stability in the underground workings 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 bord-and-pillar mine operators and mining contractors.
- →Continuous miner, shuttle car and bolting crews.
- →Strata-control and pillar-extraction crews working on retreat.
- →Geotechnical and mining engineers designing pillars and support.
- →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 bord pillar hazards — each with a documented consequence, inherent risk rating on a 5x5 likelihood-consequence matrix, hierarchy-of-control measures, and residual risk rating.
- ✓Pillar-design and roof-and-rib support prompts, a controlled pillar-extraction sequence section, gas and ventilation monitoring fields, and dust, silica and diesel 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 bord and pillar, driving a network of bords and leaving pillars to support the strata, with pillar extraction on retreat in part of the panel. Because the work is underground in a potentially confined atmosphere with continuous miners and shuttle cars, a SWMS is prepared, and a principal mining hazard management plan is in place for ground or strata instability, with a ventilation control plan for the mine. Pillars, bord widths and the layout are designed to a geotechnical model by competent engineers for the depth and loading, and systematic roof and rib support — bolting, mesh and standing support where required — is installed to a support plan with convergence monitored. The pillar-extraction sequence on retreat is designed so the roof fails behind the line of extraction, with remote operation and no workers under unsupported roof. Forced ventilation with gas monitoring maintains the atmosphere, and air monitoring tracks respirable dust, crystalline silica and diesel particulate against their standards, with health monitoring for exposed workers. Inrush controls address adjacent old workings, and a competent strata-control supervisor can withdraw workers on adverse ground. 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 bord and pillar mining?
Bord and pillar, also called room and pillar, drives a network of openings through the orebody or coal seam and leaves pillars of in-situ material to support the overlying strata. The stability of those pillars and of the roof and ribs is the dominant hazard, and the risk increases during pillar extraction on retreat, when pillars are recovered and the roof is deliberately allowed to fail behind the line of extraction.
How are pillars and the roof kept stable?
Pillars, bord widths and the layout are designed to a geotechnical and strata-control model by competent engineers for the depth, loading and material strength, and systematic roof and rib support — bolting, mesh and standing support where required — is installed to a support plan with roof and rib condition monitored and convergence measured. These controls form the ground-instability principal mining hazard management plan.
Why is pillar extraction higher risk?
During pillar extraction on retreat, pillars are partially or fully recovered and the roof is deliberately allowed to fail behind the line of extraction, so loss of control can cause roof failure ahead of the planned line. It is managed with a controlled extraction sequence designed so the roof fails behind the line, remote or mechanised operation, and keeping workers out from under unsupported roof.
What dust and gas hazards apply, particularly in coal?
Bord and pillar generates respirable crystalline silica and, in coal, respirable coal dust, causing silicosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis and mixed-dust disease, and in coal there is the additional hazard of flammable gas. Air monitoring is conducted against the silica standard of 0.05 mg/m3, the coal dust standard, and the diesel standard, with forced ventilation and gas monitoring where flammable gas is present.
What plans govern bord and pillar mining?
Under the mines regulations the operator prepares a principal mining hazard management plan for ground or strata instability, and for fire or explosion and gas where relevant, with 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 and health monitoring and the strata-control supervision sit within that framework.