Asbestos Management Plan Template
Ready-to-complete written asbestos management plan for a workplace where asbestos has been identified or is assumed: legal requirements table, responsibilities, asbestos register, risk rating, management decisions and reasons, labels and signs, contractor and maintenance procedures, removal, refurbishment and demolition, incident procedure, training, access and five-year review, with register, acknowledgement, incident and inspection forms.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
If asbestos has been identified at a workplace, or is assumed to be there, the person with management or control of that workplace must have a written asbestos management plan, keep it up to date and make it available to workers and to anyone who comes to do work on site (WHS Regulation 2025 (NSW) s429). This template is that plan, ready to complete. It opens with a table that maps each legal requirement to the section that meets it, then takes you through the workplace details and named responsibilities, the asbestos register, a risk rating for each item, the decision made about each item and the reason for it, labels and signs, the rules for maintenance and contractor work, removal, refurbishment and demolition, the procedure for an accidental disturbance, training, access and the five-year review. The forms a workplace needs are included: the register, the contractor acknowledgement, the incident report and the periodic condition inspection. It is an asbestos management plan for a building owner, occupier or facility manager. It is not a SWMS and it is not the asbestos removal control plan a licensed removalist prepares.
Hazards identified
10 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Airborne fibres in an occupied building; exposure of the contractor and occupants
Ongoing fibre release; risk of mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis decades later
Contamination spread through the work area and air handling system
Fibres dispersed across the workplace instead of contained
Uncontrolled disturbance of hidden asbestos; stop-work and decontamination costs
Exposure, contaminated site and an offence under the regulations
Bonded material becomes friable and begins to release fibres
Accidental damage during routine work
Decisions made on wrong information; areas wrongly treated as clear
Exposed people cannot be identified later for health advice or claims
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Compliance table mapping each asbestos duty in the regulations to the section of the plan that meets it
- 2Workplace details and a responsibilities table with named people: the person with management or control, asbestos coordinator, supervisors, contractors, assessor and licensed removalist
- 3Asbestos identification section and a register form recording location, material, friable or non-friable, condition, likelihood of disturbance and date identified
- 4Risk rating method based on material type, condition, likelihood of disturbance and occupancy, with a response and timeframe for High, Medium and Low
- 5Management decisions table: remove, enclose, seal or leave and monitor for each register item, with the reason, the person responsible and the due date
- 6Labels and signs procedure with a location log
- 7Rules that always apply: no power tools, compressed air, high-pressure water or ordinary vacuum cleaners on asbestos
- 8Procedure for checking the register and briefing contractors before any maintenance or installation work
- 9Asbestos removal section: when a licence is required, the removalist's control plan, notification to the regulator, clearance inspection and certificate
- 10Refurbishment and demolition procedure, including intrusive inspection of concealed areas before work is planned
- 11Eleven-step incident procedure for accidental damage or an unexpected find, with an emergency contacts table
- 12Consultation, induction and asbestos awareness training requirements with a training record
- 13Access arrangements for workers, health and safety representatives, tenants and contractors, and transfer of the register on a change of control
- 14Action timetable, five-year review triggers and a review log
Applicable Codes of Practice
Identification, the asbestos register, the asbestos management plan, control measures and review.
Licensing, the asbestos removal control plan, notification, clearance inspections and air monitoring.
The risk-management process behind the risk rating and the hierarchy of control.
Consulting workers on the plan and coordinating with tenants and contractors who share the workplace.
Identifying and removing asbestos before demolition.
Who this is for
- →Owners and managers of commercial, industrial and public buildings built before 2004
- →Employers who occupy a building with asbestos identified in a survey and no written plan
- →Facility managers, strata managers and managing agents responsible for common property used as a workplace
- →Schools, clinics, councils, clubs and community organisations with older buildings
- →WHS managers replacing an asbestos management plan that is overdue for its five-year review
What you receive
- ✓Fully editable Microsoft Word (DOCX) asbestos management plan, about 4,000 words, with bracketed fields for your workplace, people and dates
- ✓Fourteen sections, from purpose and legal requirements to the review log
- ✓A legal requirements table for the state you choose, citing its own Act, regulation and regulator
- ✓Risk rating method and a management decisions table that records the reason for each decision
- ✓Safe work procedures for maintenance, contractor work, removal, refurbishment and demolition
- ✓Incident and emergency procedure with an emergency contacts table
- ✓Appendix A: asbestos register form
- ✓Appendix B: contractor and worker acknowledgement
- ✓Appendix C: asbestos incident report
- ✓Appendix D: periodic condition inspection checklist, and a glossary
Worked example
A warehouse built in 1978 had an asbestos survey report in a filing cabinet and no management plan. A data cabling contractor, never shown the report, drilled eleven holes through an asbestos cement wall lining in the dispatch office. The area was closed for three days for assessment, clean-up by a licensed removalist and a clearance inspection. With a completed plan, the supervisor who booked the contractor would have checked the register first, the wall would have carried a label, and the contractor would have signed the acknowledgement and run the cable on the surface.
Related legislation
- Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) — s19 primary duty of care; s20 duty of a person with management or control of a workplace
- Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) — s422 asbestos to be identified or assumed at the workplace; s424 presence and location of asbestos to be indicated
- Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) — s425 asbestos register; s426 review of asbestos register; s427 access to asbestos register
- Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) — s429 asbestos management plan; s430 review of asbestos management plan
- Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) — s445 training of workers; s464 asbestos removal control plan; s466 notification of asbestos removal work
- Victoria: Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic) — Part 4.4 Asbestos, Divisions 5 to 7 (the Victorian edition is written against these)
Frequently asked questions
Is an asbestos management plan legally required?
Yes, where asbestos or asbestos-containing material has been identified at a workplace, is assumed to be present, or is likely to be present from time to time. The person with management or control of the workplace must make sure a written plan is prepared, kept up to date and made accessible (WHS Regulation s429). In Victoria the regulations require identification, a register and risk control; this plan is the written record of how those duties are met.
Is this a SWMS or an asbestos removal control plan?
Neither. A SWMS is prepared by a business carrying out high risk construction work. An asbestos removal control plan is prepared by a licensed asbestos removalist for a particular removal job. This is the asbestos management plan that the person in control of a building keeps for as long as asbestos remains in it.
Do I still need an asbestos survey?
Yes. The plan depends on an asbestos register, and the register must come from an inspection by a competent person such as a licensed asbestos assessor or occupational hygienist. The template includes a register form to complete from the survey, or you can attach the surveyor's register.
How often must the plan be reviewed?
At least once every five years, and earlier when the register or a control measure is reviewed, when asbestos is removed, disturbed, sealed or enclosed, when the plan is no longer adequate, or when a health and safety representative requests a review. The plan includes a review log.
Which state versions are available?
All eight: NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, NT and ACT. Each cites that jurisdiction's Act, regulation and regulator. The Victorian edition is written against the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 instead of the WHS Regulations, and the ACT edition reflects the ACT's stricter rule on unlicensed removal.
Can I use one plan for several buildings?
One plan can cover several buildings at the same workplace, with each building identified in the register. Separate sites under different management or control should each have their own register and plan, because each must be kept at, and be specific to, that workplace.
Document details
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