Underground Mine Ventilation SWMS
Primary and auxiliary ventilation — main fan operation, regulator placement, methane and DPM management, ventilation surveys. Statutory ventilation officer in coal jurisdictions.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Mining ventilation supplies, distributes and controls the air in an underground mine — the system of fans, ducts, regulators, doors and airways that delivers fresh air to the workings and removes the contaminated air, gases, dust, diesel particulate and heat that the mining process generates. Ventilation is the single most important atmospheric control in an underground mine, and its failure or inadequacy is a principal hazard: an accumulation of flammable or toxic gas, oxygen deficiency, high concentrations of respirable dust, crystalline silica and diesel particulate, and underground heat can each be life-threatening. Establishing and maintaining ventilation, and working on the ventilation infrastructure itself, also carry hazards. This document is written on the basis that the mine is ventilated to a ventilation control plan designed by a competent ventilation engineer, with the atmosphere continuously monitored against the relevant exposure standards.
Ventilation is governed by the dual mining regime with specific ventilation requirements: under the model Work Health and Safety Regulations underground work, confined space work and work in a contaminated or flammable atmosphere are high risk construction work requiring a safe work method statement; under the Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations the underground mine must have a ventilation control plan and ventilation plan, and the atmospheric hazards are managed within the principal mining hazard management plans for fire or explosion and gas. The exposure standards for respirable crystalline silica, respirable dust, diesel particulate matter and gases are the targets the ventilation is designed to meet. This document coordinates the ventilation-design, monitoring, gas and heat controls so the underground atmosphere is maintained safe.
Hazards identified
9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Explosion where flammable gas reaches an explosive concentration and an ignition source
Poisoning where toxic gases build up in the workings
Asphyxiation where oxygen is displaced or depleted
Silicosis and respiratory and carcinogenic disease from inadequately diluted contaminants
Heat stress, heat exhaustion and heat stroke in hot underground conditions
Loss of atmospheric control across the workings
Mechanical and pressure hazards, and disruption of the ventilation during work
Re-exposure of workers to contaminants that should have been removed
Toxic gases and loss of tenable atmosphere from an underground fire
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Engineering: design and operate the ventilation to a ventilation control plan and ventilation plan by a competent ventilation engineer, delivering sufficient airflow to dilute and remove gases, dust, diesel particulate and heat across the workings.
- 2Engineering: continuous atmospheric monitoring — for flammable gas with automatic power trips where required, for toxic gases and oxygen, and for the contaminants — against the relevant exposure standards including 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.
- 3Engineering: ventilation infrastructure — primary and auxiliary fans, regulators, doors, stoppings and ducts — designed, maintained and operated to control air distribution and prevent short-circuiting and recirculation.
- 4Engineering: heat management — refrigeration or cooling where required, airflow and work-rest controls — to manage underground heat stress.
- 5Administrative: prepare the ventilation control plan and ventilation plan, principal mining hazard management plans for fire or explosion and gas, and a SWMS for the high risk construction work — underground, confined space and contaminated-or-flammable-atmosphere work.
- 6Administrative: air monitoring for respirable crystalline silica 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, respirable dust and diesel particulate, with health monitoring for silica-exposed workers and records retained.
- 7Administrative: controlled procedures for work on ventilation infrastructure that maintain the ventilation, and re-entry and withdrawal protocols on adverse atmospheric 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
The underground workings and ventilation infrastructure, which may be oxygen-affected or have a contaminated or flammable atmosphere, bring the work within the confined space category and its controls.
The underground atmosphere can contain flammable or toxic gas, dust and diesel particulate, bringing the work within this category and driving the atmospheric-monitoring and ventilation 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 the underground atmosphere — gases, dust, diesel particulate and heat 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 mine ventilation officers and crews.
- →Ventilation infrastructure installation and maintenance crews.
- →Gas and atmospheric monitoring personnel.
- →Ventilation engineers designing and managing the mine ventilation.
- →Mine managers and statutory officials overseeing the ventilation control plan and the principal mining hazard management plans.
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 ventilation hazards — each with a documented consequence, inherent risk rating on a 5x5 likelihood-consequence matrix, hierarchy-of-control measures, and residual risk rating.
- ✓Ventilation-design and airflow prompts referencing the ventilation control plan, an atmospheric-monitoring section for gases, oxygen and contaminants, a heat-management section, 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 supplies and controls its air through a ventilation system of fans, ducts, regulators and doors. Because the work is underground in a potentially contaminated or flammable atmosphere, a SWMS is prepared, the mine has a ventilation control plan and ventilation plan designed by a competent ventilation engineer, and principal mining hazard management plans for fire or explosion and gas are in place. The ventilation delivers sufficient airflow to dilute and remove gases, dust, diesel particulate and heat across the workings, and continuous atmospheric monitoring tracks flammable gas with automatic power trips, toxic gases and oxygen, and the contaminants against the relevant exposure standards. The ventilation infrastructure is designed and maintained to control air distribution and prevent short-circuiting and recirculation, and heat is managed with cooling and work-rest controls where required. Air monitoring tracks respirable crystalline silica, respirable dust and diesel particulate, with health monitoring for silica-exposed workers. Work on the ventilation infrastructure follows controlled procedures that maintain the ventilation, and re-entry and withdrawal protocols apply on adverse atmospheric conditions. 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
Why is ventilation so important underground?
Ventilation is the single most important atmospheric control in an underground mine — it delivers fresh air and removes the contaminated air, gases, dust, diesel particulate and heat the mining process generates. Its failure or inadequacy is a principal hazard: an accumulation of flammable or toxic gas, oxygen deficiency, high dust, silica and diesel particulate, and heat can each be life-threatening, so the mine is ventilated to a ventilation control plan.
How is the underground atmosphere monitored?
Through continuous atmospheric monitoring for flammable gas, with automatic power trips at set thresholds where required, for toxic gases and oxygen, and for the contaminants — respirable dust, crystalline silica and diesel particulate — against the relevant exposure standards. The diesel particulate matter standard is currently 0.1 mg/m3, reducing to 0.01 mg/m3 from 1 December 2026, and the silica standard is 0.05 mg/m3.
What controls the distribution of air in the mine?
The ventilation infrastructure — primary and auxiliary fans, regulators, doors, stoppings and ducts — designed, maintained and operated to a ventilation control plan to control air distribution and prevent short-circuiting and recirculation of contaminated air. Recirculation would re-expose workers to contaminants that should have been removed, so the infrastructure is managed to deliver fresh air to the workings.
How is underground heat managed?
Through the ventilation airflow, refrigeration or cooling where required, and work-rest controls, because underground heat and humidity can cause heat stress, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Heat management is part of the ventilation design and the atmospheric controls for the mine.
What plans govern mine ventilation?
An underground mine must have a ventilation control plan and ventilation plan under the mines regulations, with the atmospheric hazards managed within the principal mining hazard management plans for fire or explosion and gas, while a SWMS is required under the model WHS Regulations for underground, confined space and contaminated-or-flammable-atmosphere work. Air monitoring covers silica, dust and diesel particulate.