Asbestos-Containing Material Demolition SWMS

Demolition of a structure that contains asbestos is among the most heavily regulated work in Australian construction, because it combines two independently high-risk activities — structural demolition and the disturbance of asbestos — on the same site at the same time. A Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory before the work begins: the work is high risk construction work under the Work Health and Safety Regulation, and licensed asbestos removal carries its own statutory duties for notification, air monitoring and clearance. The hazard that drives the document is respirable asbestos fibre, which is released whenever asbestos-containing material is cut, broken, dropped or demolished, and which causes mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer with no safe exposure threshold. Layered over that are the structural risks of bringing a building down in a controlled sequence, service strikes, confined-space conditions in basements and voids, and the public-protection duty to prevent off-site fibre transport. This SWMS sequences the project so that all licensed asbestos removal and a Clearance Certificate are completed before the asbestos-free structure is demolished, and it allocates the distinct roles of the licensed asbestos removalist, the Licensed Asbestos Assessor and the demolition contractor. It is supplied in eight jurisdiction editions; each cites its own Act, Regulation and regulator, while the nationally harmonised asbestos provisions (register 425, management plan 429, notification 466, clearance 473/474, air monitoring 475, Class A/B licensing 485/487) are common across the harmonised states. It supports licensed work — it does not replace the licence.

Hazards identified

8 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.

1. 1Elimination — Sequence the works so all licensed asbestos removal and clearance are completed before any demolition of the asbestos-free structure begins, removing the fibre source before structural demolition energy is introduced
2. 2Substitution — Keep asbestos-containing material intact and thoroughly wetted for removal in whole pieces rather than breaking or mechanically demolishing it in place
3. 3Engineering — Continuous fine-droplet wetting of all asbestos-containing material before and during disturbance to suppress fibre at source
4. 4Engineering — HEPA-filtered negative-pressure enclosure for friable work, maintaining a minimum of 4 air changes per hour and smoke-tested before use
5. 5Engineering — Three-stage personal decontamination unit and a separate plant/waste decontamination route
6. 6Administrative — Pre-demolition asbestos audit by a Licensed Asbestos Assessor with intrusive sampling of all suspect materials before work starts
7. 7Administrative — Regulator notification at least 5 working days before licensed removal; demolition notification under reg 142 as applicable
8. 8Administrative — Independent air monitoring by the Licensed Asbestos Assessor throughout friable removal, with a Clearance Certificate before structural demolition
9. 9PPE — Class A friable: air-line respirator or full-face PAPR (P3); Class B non-friable: full-face PAPR (P3 minimum)
10. 10PPE — Category 3 Type 5/6 disposable coveralls, taped at cuffs and ankles, single-use and disposed of as asbestos waste

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

At 6:30 am on a Tuesday, a crew from Kestrel Demolition mobilises to a two-storey commercial building scheduled for deconstruction. The pre-demolition asbestos audit has flagged friable pipe lagging in the basement plant room and bonded cement sheet to the eaves. The supervisor confirms the regulator notification was lodged six working days earlier and walks the exclusion zone before anyone enters. The basement is treated as a confined space: the atmosphere is tested, mechanical ventilation is set up, and a negative-pressure enclosure is built around the lagging. A Class A removalist wets and removes the friable material in intact sections while the Licensed Asbestos Assessor runs continuous air monitoring; results stay below 0.01 f/mL. By mid-afternoon the bonded sheeting is removed under Class B controls, all waste is double-bagged and labelled, and workers pass through the three-stage decontamination unit. Only once the Assessor issues the Clearance Certificate the following morning does the excavator begin structural demolition of the now asbestos-free frame, working top-down to the engineered sequence with a spotter managing the powered-plant exclusion zone.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• Asbestos — National Strategic Plan for Asbestos Awareness and Management
• How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice