Bulk excavation SWMS, drafted for your job
Digging bulk excavation means big plant working over people, ground that can give way, and services nobody has found yet. Tell us the job and the site: your SWMS is drafted around them, and you check it on site before work starts.
A$39per job
However many high-risk activities it covers.
- However many high-risk activities it covers.
- 3 for A$99
- 10 for A$249
- Yearly A$129 for 120
- Monthly A$60 for 10
You review it on site before work starts.
Your Business
Safe Work Method Statement
Version 1
Draft
Bulk excavation
Site Your site address
Law Your state
High-risk construction work
- Work in or near a deep trench, shaft or tunnel
- Work where powered mobile plant is moving
Job steps, hazards and controls
| 1 | Locate and prove services | Striking live services | High | Pothole to prove; mark and hand-dig near |
| 2 | Set up edges and haul routes | Falls over crest; plant hits workers | High | Bund the crest; separate routes and zones |
| 3 | Dig in stages with battering | Face collapse onto workers | Extreme | Cut to the geotech design; bench faces |
| 4 | Load and haul material | Truck reversing; rollover | High | Spotter at the face; graded ramps |
| 5 | Manage water and weather | Flooding; soft ground | Medium | Dewater as you go; stop ahead of rain |
Illustrative first page. Yours carries your business name only.
What you get
What your bulk excavation SWMS will contain
An A4 document your crew can read on site, a PDF for the builder and a sign-on register.
- Job and site detailsYour business, the site, the principal contractor, the dates.
- High-risk construction workThe categories your job involves, ticked.
- Step-by-step methodEach step with its hazards, risk rating and controls.
- How controls are checkedWho puts each control in place, monitors and reviews it.
- PPE, plant and permitsEquipment and training the job needs.
- Emergency planAssembly point, first aid, nearest hospital to confirm on site.
- Consultation and reviewWho was consulted, when it is reviewed.
- Sign-on registerYour crew signs by QR or on paper.
High-risk construction work
Categories this task often involves
You tick the ones your job involves. Each ticked category gets its own steps and controls, in your state's wording.
- Work in or near a deep trench, shaft or tunnel
- Work where powered mobile plant is moving
State notes
Rules depend on your state
Pick your state when you start. Your state's regulator publishes the rules and guidance for this work.
Hazards and controls
What goes wrong on a bulk excavation job, and how the SWMS controls it
These rows are written for this task. Your draft adds the ones your site and method need.
- 1
Batter or bench face collapsing onto workers below
Extreme- Cut batters and benches to the geotech design, no steeper
- Keep workers out from under faces until they are benched back
- 2
Excavator slew or trucks reversing into workers on the floor
High- Separate plant and people with haul routes and exclusion zones
- Spotter on the ground whenever trucks reverse to the dig face
- 3
Bucket striking a live cable, gas or water main
High- Pothole by hand or vacuum truck to prove services before digging
- Mark every found service and dig around it by hand
- 4
Falls over the edge of the cut or off a bench
High- Bund or barrier the crest before digging starts
- Keep plant and people back from unprotected edges
- 5
Groundwater or stormwater filling the excavation
Medium- Dewater as the dig deepens and keep pumps ready
- Watch the weather and pull the crew out ahead of rain
- 6
Haul truck rolling on steep ramps or soft edges
High- Grade haul ramps and keep loads inside what the truck can carry
- Bund ramp edges and keep trucks off soft shoulders
- 7
Dust from digging and haulage on dry ground
Medium- Water cart on haul routes and dig faces
- Cabs closed up and dust masks for workers near the face
How the job usually runs
- 1Locate and prove servicesStriking live services → Pothole to prove; mark and hand-dig near
- 2Set up edges and haul routesFalls over crest; plant hits workers → Bund the crest; separate routes and zones
- 3Dig in stages with batteringFace collapse onto workers → Cut to the geotech design; bench faces
- 4Load and haul materialTruck reversing; rollover → Spotter at the face; graded ramps
- 5Manage water and weatherFlooding; soft ground → Dewater as you go; stop ahead of rain
- 6Backfill and reinstateEdge falls; plant interaction → Keep barriers until edges are gone
PPE for this job
- High-vis clothing
- Hard hat
- Safety boots
- Hearing protection
- P2 dust mask
Your draft lists the PPE your site and method need.
After you finalise
Brief your crew and send it to your builder
Crew signs by QR
Send to my builder
PDF and register
Builder sent it back?
Make their changes and re-issue the same job free. Workers re-sign the new version.
Questions
Bulk excavation SWMS questions
- Last reviewed
- 21 October 2026
- How
- Hazard rows checked against the task; no legal line is stated unless it is logged from primary text.
- Next review
- Every six months, or when the method or rules change
Does this SWMS cover the haulage as well as the dig?
Yes. Describe the whole job when you start, including the dig face, haul route and tip area, and the steps cover excavating, loading and carting as one job.
What if the bucket hits a service nobody marked?
Stop, ease the bucket away and treat it as live until the asset owner confirms what it is. Nobody digs near it until it is proven, marked and the drawing is updated.
Does the SWMS change for wet ground or groundwater?
Yes. Say the ground is wet when you start and the draft adds dewatering steps, pumps kept ready and pulling the crew out ahead of rain.
How much does a bulk excavation SWMS cost?
One job uses 1 SWMS when you finalise: A$39 for one, however many high-risk activities it covers. AI drafting needs a SWMS pack or plan. Packs and Yearly cost less per SWMS.
Is this a template?
No. You describe the job and the site, and the SWMS is drafted for them. You edit anything, then finalise it.
Who checks the SWMS?
You do, with your crew, on site before work starts. The draft gives you a strong starting point; the person running the work makes sure it matches the site.
My builder sent it back. What now?
Open it, make the changes they asked for and re-issue it. Corrections to the same job are free.
How does my crew sign it?
Show the QR code on your phone or print the A4 sign-on sheet. Workers read and sign on their own phones without an account.
Does it work in my state?
Yes. You choose the state before drafting, and the document names the law that applies there. Victoria uses its OHS Regulations.
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