Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) Template
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Looking for a ready-to-use Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) that still fits how your team works? This template comes pre-filled with drilling job steps, risk assessments, hazard lists, and control measures covering common drilling activities across concrete, masonry, steel, timber, and ground work, so your team is not starting from scratch. You can edit any part of it to match your company's specific processes, equipment, and site conditions, and the finished document will still hold up against the safety regulations and compliance requirements you would be audited on.
This Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS), or Drilling SWMS, is an easy-to-use form that your workers can use to plan and manage drilling risks before work begins on site. It lets them select the scope of work, identify relevant hazards such as silica dust, noise, vibration, flying debris, electric shock, hidden services, and entanglement, choose the required PPE, and work through a structured list of job steps with risk ratings and method statements already in place. Workers can scan to sign on before starting drilling activities, and the completed SWMS can be exported to PDF or CSV for records, audits, or handover.
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What is Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)?
A Drilling Safe Work Method Statement, or Drilling SWMS, is a document used by site teams, supervisors, contractors, and drilling operators to plan how drilling work will be carried out safely. This SWMS usually includes details on the work area, drilling equipment, material or surface being drilled, service locations, dust controls, access requirements, PPE, job steps, hazards, risk ratings, and control measures.
Due to the risks that come with drilling work, hazards such as silica dust, noise, vibration, flying debris, electric shock, underground or hidden services, entanglement, manual handling injuries, and unstable surfaces have to be planned around to lessen potential accidents. This makes Drilling SWMS documents highly relevant in Australian construction, civil works, utilities, mining, maintenance, geotechnical work, and industrial projects where holes are drilled into structures, ground, or materials.
Compare this to Drilling SWMS Form traditional Word and PDF documents
Curious how this Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) works? Take a look at the example below to see what the template includes out of the box, from pre-written drilling job steps and hazard controls through to PPE selections and risk ratings. You can generate your own version quickly, fill in your site and company details, and export a finished, professional SWMS document in minutes. It is that straightforward to have a compliant drilling SWMS ready before your crew picks up a drill.
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Applicable Standards and Policies for Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)
There are generally no explicit formatting requirements for a Drilling Safe Work Method Statement. However, Australian WHS laws require PCBUs to prepare a SWMS for high-risk construction work where applicable, and to document hazards, risks, and control measures involved in drilling, powered tools, silica dust, underground services, manual handling, and work near other people or plant. A Drilling SWMS is a good document to support compliance to this.
- Model WHS Regulations require a SWMS for high-risk construction work in Australia
- Safe Work Australia’s Construction Work Code of Practice covers SWMS requirements for high-risk construction work
- Safe Work Australia guidance covers plant, equipment, silica dust, and hazardous manual task risks
- Safe Work Australia guidance covers excavation, drilling, and underground service risks
- State and territory WHS laws commonly require risk controls for drilling and construction work
Staff Members and Parties that use Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)
A Drilling SWMS is primarily used by project teams that manage core drilling, concrete drilling, ground drilling, service locating, powered tool use, or work near underground services and other trades. Here are examples of other common parties that use a Drilling SWMS:
- Site supervisors and project managers
- Drilling workers and operators
- Service locators
- Health and safety teams
- Contractors and subcontractors carrying out drilling work
Business Risks Reduced by Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)
A Drilling SWMS puts controls in place for the hazards behind most drilling incidents, such as silica dust exposure, service strikes, flying debris, noise, vibration, manual handling, electric shock, and interaction with nearby workers or plant. Applied consistently, it reduces the following business risks.
- Injuries, illness, and drilling-related incidents
- Non-compliance with Australian SWMS and drilling safety requirements
- Legal claims, enforcement action, and incident-related costs
- Project delays from injuries, service damage, equipment issues, and site shutdowns
Business Opportunities Created by Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)
A well-prepared Drilling SWMS helps businesses improve control over drilling work, powered tool use, dust exposure, and service location risks. Here are some ways a well-designed Drilling SWMS can help businesses:
- Improve worker confidence before drilling work begins
- Strengthen contractor prequalification and tender-offer competitiveness
- Improve coordination between supervisors, drilling workers, service locators, and site teams
- Build trust with clients, regulators, insurers, and project stakeholders
What Should be Included in a Drilling SWMS?
A Drilling SWMS should be prepared before drilling work is carried out as part of high risk construction work or on sites with higher-risk conditions. While exact requirements can vary across Australian states, territories, projects, and principal contractor requirements, there are some core elements that are typically included that you should know about:
- Scope of work, site location, drilling method, equipment type, and responsible persons
- Job steps for setting up, service checks, marking out, drilling, dust control, tool changes, clean-up, and waste disposal
- Hazards such as silica dust, underground services, electric shock, noise, vibration, flying debris, manual handling, and moving plant
- Required controls such as service locating, isolation, dust suppression, RCD protection, PPE, exclusion zones, guarding, and equipment checks
- Risk ratings, emergency procedures, worker consultation, sign-off, and review requirements
Why are Drilling SWMS Important?
Drilling SWMS are important because drilling work can expose workers to silica dust, electric shock, noise, vibration, flying debris, manual handling risks, and contact with hidden services. This is critically important on construction, civil, fit-out, maintenance, and industrial sites where workers may drill into concrete, masonry, steel, timber, ground surfaces, walls, ceilings, or service areas.
Essentially, a Drilling SWMS helps confirm that the work steps, service checks, drilling method, dust controls, and safety measures have been reviewed before the task begins. Additionally, it gives project management teams clear documentation of the due diligence performed, supporting consultation, site coordination, and compliance with Australian WHS requirements where the work forms part of construction or higher-risk site activity.
How to Create a Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)
Creating your own Drilling SWMS forms doesn’t have to be complicated. In this section, we break down the process step by step.
Before starting your Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) form, the following pre-requisites should be ready.
- Project or site details are required.
- Drilling scope and work area must be listed.
- High-risk construction work details must be covered.
- Hazards, risks, and control measures must be stated.
- Drill type, tooling, and equipment checks must be included.
- Dust, noise, services, and PPE controls must be noted.
- Worker sign-off and SWMS review requirements must be recorded.
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Start with Project and SWMS Information
First, you need to place high-level general information at the beginning of your Drilling Safe Work Method Statement to help establish context for the work to be done. Here are some examples of core elements that you can use:
- Project name and site location
- SWMS title and document reference number
- Description of drilling works to be completed
- Name of the PCBU, contractor, or subcontractor
- Names and roles of workers, supervisors, and drilling operators
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Define the Scope of Drilling Works
Next, you will want to define the scope of work so it is clear what drilling activities are covered by the SWMS. For example, you will want to list the following information in your Drilling SWMS:
- Type of drilling work being completed
- Work area, bore location, wall, slab, ground, or structure being drilled
- Drill rig, hand drill, core drill, auger, or other drilling equipment being used
- Materials being drilled, such as concrete, soil, rock, masonry, steel, or timber
- Access, exclusion zone, service location, and waste handling requirements
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Assess Drilling Hazards
It is important that potential hazards are identified before drilling work starts so the appropriate safety control measures can be implemented. Common hazards that you should look out for include:
- Contact with rotating drill parts, augers, bits, or moving equipment
- Striking underground, embedded, or overhead services
- Dust, noise, vibration, flying debris, or slurry
- Manual handling of drills, rigs, hoses, cores, and materials
- Unstable ground, poor access, nearby workers, or mobile plant movement
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Record Safety Control Measures and Work Method
After the hazards are identified, you will want to determine the appropriate safety control measures to reduce risks for your workers and nearby site personnel. Be sure to document the following information in your SWMS:
- Service location checks, scanning, permits, or isolation requirements
- Pre-start checks for drills, guards, cords, hoses, bits, and emergency stops
- Dust suppression, slurry control, ventilation, or extraction requirements
- PPE requirements such as eye protection, hearing protection, gloves, respiratory protection, and safety footwear
- Work sequence for set-up, marking, service checks, drilling, clearing, clean-up, and handover
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Complete Review, Approval, and Worker Sign-Off
Complete your Drilling SWMS with review, approval, and worker sign-off to confirm that the work method and safety control measures have been communicated before work starts. Here are some examples of fields you can include:
- Names and roles of reviewers and approvers
- Date of review and approval
- Worker confirmation that the SWMS has been read and understood
- Supervisor or person in charge sign-off
- Revision number and next review trigger
Frequently asked questions
How to create SWMS Process in an App or Software System
A well-designed SWMS process ensures workers clearly understand the hazards, risks, and required control measures to perform high-risk work, while enabling your team to easily document, review, and share safe work procedures before work begins.
40 minutes
Medium difficulty
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Start your Drilling SWMS with General Information
It is important to begin your Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) with key project, site, date, reference, and location details so the document can be traced to the correct drilling and core drilling activity. This section should use simple text and date fields for fields such as:
- Text field or Automatic Form Counter for SWMS Reference Number
- Date selector field for Date
- Text fields for Project Name and Address
- Text field or Automatic Single Day Weather capture
- Multi-line text field for Description of Work
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Create a Section for Scope of Work, Hazards, and PPE
Next, create a section where users can select the project scope, possible hazards, and required PPE for the drilling works. For simplicity, we recommend using multiple-choice selector fields for this section, with fields such as:
- Multiple-choice selector field for Project Scope
- Multiple-choice selector field for Possible Hazards
- Multiple-choice selector field for PPE Required, including Ear Protection
- Conditional text field for other hazards or PPE not listed in the pre-filled choices
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Create a Table for Material and Equipment Information
Users will next need to list down the rotary hammer drill, core drilling machine, M-class dust extractor, and other equipment required for the task. We highly recommend using a table for this section so each item can be recorded with its make, asset details, and required training information.
- First column for Material or Equipment Name
- Second column for Make or Model
- Third column for Registration or Asset ID, if any
- Fourth column for Required License or Training, if any
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Create a Table for the Method Statement and Risk Assessment
Next, create the main SWMS table where users can record each drilling job step, hazards, risk scores, controls, and responsible persons. We highly recommend using a table for this section, with the following formatting for the columns:
- First column for Job Step
- Second column for Potential Hazards
- Third column for Initial Risk Score
- Fourth column for Controls
- Fifth column for Residual Risk Score
- Sixth column for Person Responsible
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Add Pre-filled Method Statement Rows for Drilling Work
After the main table is created, add pre-filled rows that reflect the most common drilling job steps in the attached SWMS. These rows help users complete the form faster while still allowing the SWMS to be adjusted for the actual site task.
- Row for Pre-start planning, work area setup and drilling equipment inspection
- Row for Positioning drill and commencing drilling
- Row for Drilling or core drilling concrete, masonry and other materials
- Row for Removing drill bits, clearing jams and shutting down equipment
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Create a Section for Additional High-Risk or Site-Specific Steps
Some drilling tasks may require extra job steps depending on overhead drilling, scaffold access, falling debris, dropped tools, drill kickback, or unstable working positions. We highly recommend creating an additional method statement table so users can add extra risk assessment rows when needed.
- Columns for Job Step, Potential Hazards, Likelihood, Consequence, Initial Risk Score, Controls, Residual Risk Score, and Person Responsible
- Dropdown fields for Likelihood and Consequence scores
- Risk Score = Likelihood Rating x Consequence Rating
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Create a Section for Risk Matrix Guidance
Next, add a risk matrix section as a guide for users to assess initial and residual risk scores for any additional job steps they may add. We highly recommend using the following fields and features to help guide users:
- Pre-filled or photo of the Risk Matrix table showing Likelihood, Consequence, and Risk Score levels
- Pre-filled text field for Consequence ratings from 1 to 5
- Pre-filled text field for Likelihood ratings from 1 to 5
- Pre-filled guide for residual risk actions, including Low, Moderate, High, and Catastrophic risk outcome
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End your Drilling SWMS with Worker and Supervisor Sign-offs
Finally, complete the Drilling Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) with worker confirmation and sign-off fields for the responsible parties. If your app or software allows, use scan-to-sign and automatic e-signature fields to keep the sign-off process digital.
- A scan to sign-on table for workers’ sign-off
- E-signature field for Supervisor Sign-off
- E-signature field for Project Manager Sign-off
- Automatic date and time stamp fields for each sign-off
About the author
Ron Gadugdug
Content Engineer
LinkedIn
Education
Cebu Institute of Technology - University - Civil Engineering
Bio
Ron is a Civil Engineer with 6 years of experience in the construction industry, primarily focused on quantity surveying, cost estimation, project management, quality control, contract administration, and property & engineering insurance. At Sitemate, he writes about practical applications of evolving technologies and digital solutions that support construction professionals in improving efficiency, compliance, and project delivery across the built world.
Past Projects
Quantity Surveying & Cost EngineeringPerformed quantity take-offs of several high-rise and horizontal structures using sheets and applications like Revit and Bluebeam Revu, and spearheaded trials with Building Information Modeling (BIM) software.
Project Management & ConsultancyCoordinated with project management teams during the construction of local projects such as a 4-tower hotel & resort, a 22 storey condominium project, and a school dormitory project.
Contract AdministrationAssisted during contract biddings and negotiations with general contractors and sub-contractors, and oversaw progress reporting, billings, and payment.
Property & Engineering InsuranceDedicated non-life claims handler, overseeing property and contractor all-risk insurance claims, risk management, and bonds.
Version History:
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