Mine Dewatering & Pumping SWMS
Pit and underground mine dewatering — pump installation, pipe network maintenance, electrical isolation in wet environments, water quality discharge compliance.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Mining dewatering and pumping removes groundwater and surface water from a mine to keep the workings dry and stable, through pumps, pipelines, sumps and bores on surface and underground. Water is a serious mining hazard in its own right: an uncontrolled inflow or inrush of water — from old workings, aquifers, surface water or the failure of a containment — can flood the workings and engulf or drown workers, and the loss of dewatering can lead to instability and the loss of the mine. The dewatering system itself adds electrical hazards from pumps and cabling often in wet conditions, the mechanical hazards of the pumps, and the confined and difficult conditions of sumps and pump stations. This document is written on the basis that the inrush hazard is assessed and controlled, and that the dewatering system is designed, electrically protected and maintained as a critical system.
Dewatering and pumping is governed by the dual mining regime: under the model Work Health and Safety Regulations work in or near a confined space, in or near water with a risk of drowning, and on or near energised electrical services are high risk construction work requiring a safe work method statement; under the Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations inrush is a principal mining hazard requiring a principal mining hazard management plan. Diesel particulate matter from any diesel pumping plant is controlled against its standard. This document coordinates the inrush, water-management, electrical-protection and pump-system controls so the mine is dewatered without an inrush or an electrical or drowning incident.
Hazards identified
9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Flooding and engulfment or drowning of workers in the workings
Rising water leading to instability and loss of access to the workings
Electrocution where electrical equipment and water combine without protection
Drowning where workers fall into or work near deep water
Crush and entanglement at pump and drive components
Oxygen deficiency, contaminated atmosphere and restricted egress
Release of water under pressure and pipeline whip
Carcinogenic diesel exhaust exposure where diesel pumps are used, particularly underground
Chemical and biological exposure from contaminated water
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Engineering: assess the inrush hazard — old workings, aquifers, surface water and containments — and control it with standoff distances, barriers, advance drilling and drainage where required, within the inrush principal mining hazard management plan.
- 2Engineering: design the dewatering system with adequate and redundant pumping capacity, monitoring of water levels and pump performance, and alarms so a loss of dewatering is detected and managed.
- 3Engineering: electrical protection for pumps and cabling in wet conditions — residual current device protection, appropriate ingress protection, and inspection and testing of electrical equipment.
- 4Engineering: edge protection, barriers and fall-and-drowning controls around sumps, dams and water bodies, and confined space controls for sumps and pump stations where they apply.
- 5Administrative: prepare a principal mining hazard management plan for inrush, and a SWMS for the high risk construction work — confined space, work in or near water with a risk of drowning, and work on or near energised electrical services.
- 6Administrative: a pump-station and pipeline maintenance and isolation regime, with energy isolation for mechanical and electrical work and controls for high-pressure discharge lines.
- 7Administrative: manage hazardous or contaminated mine water with appropriate controls 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 for any diesel pumping plant, and consult and train workers in the inrush and water controls.
- 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
Sumps, pump stations and underground pumping locations that may be oxygen-affected or have a contaminated atmosphere bring the work within the confined space category and its controls.
Pumps and their cabling, often in wet conditions, are energised electrical services, bringing the work within this category and driving the electrical-protection 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 inrush and uncontrolled water, and the electrical and mechanical hazards of the pumping system 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
- →Mine dewatering and pumping crews on surface and underground.
- →Pump and pipeline maintenance technicians.
- →Electrical workers maintaining pumps and cabling in wet conditions.
- →Mining and hydrogeological engineers managing inrush and dewatering.
- →Mine managers and supervisors overseeing the inrush principal mining hazard management plan 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 dewatering pumping hazards — each with a documented consequence, inherent risk rating on a 5x5 likelihood-consequence matrix, hierarchy-of-control measures, and residual risk rating.
- ✓Inrush hazard-assessment and control prompts, a dewatering-system capacity and monitoring section, electrical-protection fields for wet conditions, and confined space and drowning control sections.
- ✓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
A mine is dewatering its workings through pumps, pipelines and sumps to keep them dry and stable. Because the work is in or near confined sumps and pump stations, in or near water with a drowning risk, and on or near energised electrical services in wet conditions, a SWMS is prepared, and a principal mining hazard management plan for inrush is in place. The inrush hazard from old workings, aquifers and surface water is assessed and controlled with standoff distances, barriers and advance drilling where required. The dewatering system is designed with adequate and redundant pumping capacity, water-level and pump-performance monitoring and alarms so a loss of dewatering is detected and managed. Pumps and cabling in wet conditions are electrically protected with residual current devices and appropriate ingress protection, and equipment is inspected and tested. Edge protection and drowning controls surround sumps and water bodies, and confined space controls apply to sumps and pump stations. A maintenance and isolation regime governs pump-station and pipeline work, with energy isolation and high-pressure-line controls. Hazardous mine water is managed, and diesel pumps are monitored against the diesel standard. The plan, 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
Why is water a serious mining hazard?
An uncontrolled inflow or inrush of water — from old workings, aquifers, surface water or a containment failure — can flood the workings and engulf or drown workers, and a loss of dewatering can lead to instability and the loss of access to the mine. Inrush is a principal mining hazard requiring its own management plan, and the work is also high risk construction work where it involves confined spaces, water with a drowning risk, or energised electrical services.
How is inrush controlled?
The inrush hazard is assessed — old workings, aquifers, surface water and containments — and controlled with standoff distances, barriers, advance drilling and drainage where required, within the inrush principal mining hazard management plan. Advance drilling, for example, can detect water ahead of development before it is intersected, so the inflow is managed rather than encountered uncontrolled.
Why are electrical hazards heightened in dewatering?
Dewatering pumps and their cabling often operate in wet conditions, which markedly increases the electrocution risk. They are protected with residual current device protection and appropriate ingress protection, and the equipment is inspected and tested, with work on or near these energised services treated as high risk construction work.
What makes sumps and pump stations confined spaces?
Sumps and pump stations can be enclosed, oxygen-affected and have a contaminated atmosphere with restricted egress, meeting the confined space definition. Where they do, the confined space controls — atmospheric testing, ventilation, entry permit, standby person and rescue — apply in addition to the drowning and electrical controls.
What plans govern dewatering and pumping?
Under the mines regulations the operator prepares a principal mining hazard management plan for inrush, while a SWMS is required under the model WHS Regulations for confined space, water-with-drowning-risk and energised-electrical work. The dewatering system is designed with redundancy and monitoring, and any diesel pumping plant is monitored against the diesel particulate standard.