Asbestos Management Plan: What It Must Contain and Who Needs One

Under regulation 429 of the model WHS Regulations (section 429 in New South Wales), a person with management or control of a workplace must make sure a written asbestos management plan is prepared if asbestos or asbestos-containing material (ACM) is identified at the workplace, is assumed to be present, or is likely to be present from time to time.

In practice that covers most commercial, industrial and public buildings built before 1990, and many built up to the end of 2003, when the national ban on asbestos took effect. Schools, hospitals, factories, warehouses, shops, strata common property used as a workplace and council buildings all commonly need one. A workplace does not need a register or a plan if the building was constructed after 31 December 2003, no asbestos has been identified and none is likely to be present.

The duty does not apply to a home, unless the home is a workplace while work is carried out there, in which case the business doing the work has its own duties about asbestos it may disturb.

The asbestos register records what is there: each location where asbestos or ACM has been identified or is assumed, the date it was identified, its type and its condition. It is prepared from an inspection by a competent person and is the starting point for everything else.

The asbestos management plan records what is being done about it: how the asbestos in the register is being managed, the reasons for those decisions, the procedures for incidents, and how workers are consulted, informed and trained. It refers to the register; it does not replace it.

The asbestos removal control plan is a different document for a different duty holder. It is prepared by a licensed asbestos removalist before licensed removal work starts and sets out how that removal will be done: the method, the tools, the enclosure or boundaries, decontamination, air monitoring and waste disposal. A copy is given to the person who commissioned the removal.

A building with asbestos in good condition that is being left in place needs the register and the management plan. The removal control plan only comes into existence when licensed removal is planned.

The regulations require the asbestos management plan to include information about:

1. The identification of asbestos or ACM: a reference or link to the asbestos register, and the locations of signs and labels.
2. Decisions, and the reasons for decisions, about the management of asbestos at the workplace: for example safe work procedures and control measures, whether material is to be left in place, sealed, enclosed or removed, and why.
3. Procedures for detailing incidents or emergencies involving asbestos at the workplace, such as accidental damage to asbestos cement sheet or the discovery of unexpected material during maintenance.
4. Workers who carry out work involving asbestos: consultation, responsibilities, and information and training.

The model Code of Practice, How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace, adds the detail a usable plan needs: a timetable for managing the risks, including priorities and dates for reviews and any removal; the names of the people responsible and what they are responsible for; the procedure contractors must follow before starting work that could disturb asbestos; and the air monitoring arrangements, if any.

The plan must be kept up to date and be readily accessible to workers at the workplace, to their health and safety representatives, and to any business that carries out or intends to carry out work there. The last group matters most in practice: an electrician, plumber or cabling contractor must be shown the register and the plan before starting, because drilling, cutting and pulling cable are how asbestos in a managed building is most often disturbed.

If a person intends to carry out work at the workplace that involves a risk of exposure to airborne asbestos, the person with management or control must make sure they are given a copy of the register before the work starts.

The plan must be reviewed and, where necessary, revised at least once every five years. It must also be reviewed when there is a review of the asbestos register or of a control measure; when asbestos is removed from, or disturbed, sealed or enclosed at, the workplace; when the plan is no longer adequate for managing asbestos at the workplace; and when a health and safety representative requests a review on reasonable grounds.

The register follows the same pattern, so the two are normally reviewed together. An inspection that finds deteriorated material, a change of use of a room, or a refurbishment are all reasons to bring the review forward instead of waiting for the five-year date.

Removing friable asbestos requires a Class A licensed asbestos removalist. Removing more than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos requires a Class A or Class B licence. Before licensed removal starts, the removalist must prepare an asbestos removal control plan, keep it accessible at the site, and give a copy to the person who commissioned the work. The regulator must be notified at least five days before licensed removal work begins.

When the removal is finished, the register and the management plan are updated to show that the material is gone, and the clearance certificate is kept with them.

Asbestos removal on a construction site is also high risk construction work, which means a SWMS is required as well as the removal control plan. The two are separate documents: the removal control plan is specific to the asbestos removal method, and the SWMS covers the high risk construction work.

Victoria has not adopted the model WHS laws. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, a person who manages or controls a workplace must identify asbestos, record it in an asbestos register, keep the register current and control the risk. The Victorian regulations require an asbestos control plan for licensed removal work. Most Victorian duty holders record how identified asbestos is being managed in a document they also call an asbestos management plan, and the contents described above serve that purpose with Victorian references.