The risks associated with working on, in or near a water body should be eliminated wherever reasonably practicable, otherwise the risks of undertaking the activity must be minimised so far as is reasonably practicable. Managing the following risks associated with working on, in or near water is the primary focus of this procedure:
- Falling into the water and drowning.
- Being swept away by fast moving water and being injured or drowning.
- Falling into water with electrical equipment and suffering an electric shock.
- Being trapped under water by equipment or objects and drowning.
- Hitting objects or being hit by moving objects should a person fall into a water body.
- Being exposed to contaminated water, or being exposed to flora or fauna, in the water.
Risk Assessment
A risk assessment must be conducted in consultation with relevant workers to identify and assess all the risks associated with working on, in or near water.
This involves the following: Workplace / asset-based risk assessment
- Identify work locations where activities that involve working on, in or near water may be carried out.
- Where possible, the risk of falling into a water body and drowning shall be assessed and captured in the relevant workplace Site hazard register.
- Where a workplace is not covered in any workplace Site hazard register, but is regularly accessed by workers, a risk assessment must be conducted for the site. Task / activity-based risk assessment
- A risk assessment must be completed prior to commencing any work that involves working on, in or near water. Should the activity include any critical controls or a risk of drowning then the risk assessment should be documented. When undertaking the risk assessment, the following factors must be considered:
- access / egress to or from the location on, in or near water, where the work will be carried out
- the frequency and duration of exposure to the identified hazards
- the water body factors that impact on the consequence of a fall into the water body e.g. depth, speed of the water flow, turbulence, debris load and type and slope of the water bed
- types of equipment to be carried and used
- the knowledge, experience and competency of the workers
- environmental conditions which may impact on the work activity and rescue (i.e. remoteness of the workplace, weather conditions such as wind, rain, temperature and lighting)
- working within 2m of an edge of areas normally filled with water, that may now have become working from height risk or have other introduced risks.
Hierarchy of controls for managing risks of working on, in or near water
The hierarchy of controls must be used to identify the most appropriate risk control measures to manage the risk. The identification and selection of risk control measures must be undertaken in consultation with workers.
| Critical Controls Critical Controls for Working On, In or Near Water | |
| Critical Controls | Objective |
| 1 Edge protection is in place on built structures where required e.g. handrails and/or guardrails, fixed grid mesh | To prevent a fall to water from a built structure |
| 2 Life Jackets or Fall restraint / arrest worn by persons closer than 2m to an unprotected edge where there is a risk of drowning | To prevent or mitigate a fall to water |
| 3 Fit for purpose vessels / kayaks | To ensure selection and procurement of fit for purpose and compliant vessels including kayaks |
| 4 Vessels are operated to conditions and manufacturers specifications | To prevent unsafe use of vessels |
| 5 No persons or vessels in an exclusion zone around a spillway when dam is spilling | To prevent a person or vessel being swept over a spillway |
| 6 Mobile plant in proximity to water is operated to conditions and manufacturers specifications | To prevent mobile plant interaction with water |
| 7 No vehicles to drive on a submerged road (unless authorised) | To prevent vehicles being inundated and swept away by moving water |
| 8 Contractors have a clean, reliable and adequate air supply for the duration of the diving activity To prevent divers being exposed to an unsafe breathing atmosphere | |
| 9 Contractor diving equipment is serviced, maintained and calibrated to manufacturers specifications | To prevent diving equipment failure |
| 10 Depth and duration limits of diving activities carried in accordance with AS/NZS 2299.1 | To prevent exposure to unsafe depth and pressures |
| 11 personnel are not permitted to perform diving work | To ensure diving work is only performed by specialist contractors |
| 12 Rescue the worker from body of water / liquid | To minimise human harm caused by unplanned partial or full submersion of a worker in water |
| 13 Emergency Services assistance | To minimise human harm |
Safe Work Environment
Where reasonably practicable, appropriate access and egress arrangements must be provided and maintained to a workplace where work activities are being undertaken on or in the vicinity of a water body. Requirements of security, ongoing maintenance and emergency rescue must be considered when selecting these access and egress methods.
Where reasonably practicable, appropriate edge protection e.g. handrails and/or guardrails which prevent a worker from falling into a water body must be provided, installed and maintained.
The selection and configuration of the access and egress structures and associated handrails and guardrails must comply with AS 1657 Fixed platforms, walkways, stairways and ladders – Design, construction and installation.
Temporary edge protection and barriers should be considered where the provision of permanent structure and protection is not reasonably practicable. The temporary edge protection and barriers must comply with the requirements of the AS/NZS 4994 Temporary Edge Protection part 1 and part 3.
Good ground condition and housekeeping must be maintained where reasonably practicable to minimise the risk of falling into a water body.
Appropriate security, lock and signage may be installed to prevent inadvertent access to unprotected water edge at a Seqwater workplace from any workers and members of public.
Where activities that involve working on, in or near water are being carried out at a workplace where natural light is not sufficient, additional lighting that is appropriate to the work being undertaken, should be provided and maintained.