If there is asbestos at your workplace, NSW work health and safety law requires a written asbestos management plan. It sits alongside your asbestos register and sets out how the asbestos is managed day to day, what happens in an emergency, and what changes when work is done. This guide explains who needs a plan, what it must contain and when it has to be reviewed.
The requirements below come from the NSW Work Health and Safety Regulation and SafeWork NSW guidance, linked throughout. For removal work on a commercial site, see our commercial asbestos removal service.
Who needs an asbestos management plan?
SafeWork NSW states that if asbestos has been identified at your workplace, you must prepare and maintain an asbestos management plan. The duty sits with the person with management or control of the workplace. It applies whether the asbestos is manufactured, such as cement sheeting or pipe lagging, or naturally occurring in the ground.
Register and plan: what’s the difference?
The two documents work together but do different jobs.
- The asbestos register is the record. If your workplace was built before 31 December 2003, or asbestos has been identified there, you must keep a register that records when the asbestos was found, where it is, what type it is and what condition it is in. It has to be available to anyone likely to be exposed, kept up to date, and passed on to whoever takes over management or control of the workplace. Our guide to asbestos registers covers this in more detail.
- The management plan is the how. It sets out what you are doing about the asbestos in the register: how it is labelled, how people work safely around it, and what happens if it is disturbed.
The plan depends on the register, so if your register is missing or out of date, start there. We prepare asbestos registers and hazardous material surveys for Sydney workplaces.
What the plan must include
According to SafeWork NSW, an asbestos management plan must include:
- a reference or link to the asbestos register
- signage and labelling
- safe work procedures and control measures
- incident and emergency procedures
- consultation arrangements, responsibilities, and training details for workers doing asbestos removal or asbestos-related work
SafeWork’s fact sheet on asbestos registers and management plans adds that the plan should identify where asbestos is, including any naturally occurring asbestos, and record the decisions made about managing it and the reasons for them. The code of practice How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace sets out the detail.
Who must be able to see it
The plan has to be accessible to anyone involved in work at the workplace. SafeWork NSW lists workers, and any business that has carried out or intends to carry out work there, along with health and safety representatives. In practice that means contractors such as electricians, plumbers and fit-out crews should see it before they start.
When the plan must be reviewed
A plan written once and left in a drawer won’t meet the requirements. It must be reviewed:
- at least every five years
- when a health and safety representative asks for a review
- when asbestos is removed, disturbed, sealed or enclosed
- when a control measure changes
- when the plan is no longer adequate for managing the asbestos
How asbestos removal changes your plan
Removal is one of the review triggers, so every removal job should end with an updated register and a reviewed plan. Make sure you receive:
- The clearance certificate. After friable removal, an independent licensed asbestos assessor inspects the area, runs clearance air monitoring and issues the certificate. After bonded removal over 10 m², an independent competent person carries out the clearance inspection. See clearance certificates and air monitoring.
- Disposal records. Asbestos waste must go to a facility licensed to accept it, and loads over 100 kg or 10 m² are tracked under NSW EPA rules.
- What was removed and what remains. The register should show exactly which materials are gone and which are still in place.
Licensed removal also has to be notified to SafeWork NSW at least 5 calendar days before it starts, so build that into your planning.
Before refurbishment or demolition
Before refurbishing or demolishing a structure built before 31 December 2003, asbestos that could be disturbed has to be identified first. A register may list areas that couldn’t be accessed, such as wall cavities or under floors, so a targeted inspection is often needed before the work. Our asbestos inspections are built for this, and we explain why every demolition should start with an asbestos survey.
Strata buildings
An owners corporation responsible only for residential common areas is generally not treated as a business under WHS law. That changes if the scheme is mixed-use or the owners corporation engages workers. SafeWork NSW explains where the line sits in its guidance on strata title and body corporate.
Where to start
- Check whether your workplace has an asbestos register, and whether it is current.
- If there is no register and the building is older than 2004, have the site surveyed and a register prepared.
- Write or update the management plan so it references the register and covers each item SafeWork NSW requires.
- Set a review date no more than five years out, and review it sooner whenever one of the triggers above happens.
- Use a licensed removalist when asbestos has to be removed, and keep the clearance certificate and disposal records with the plan.
Need asbestos removed from a commercial or industrial site? See our commercial asbestos removal service, or call Hazardous Removal Company on 0452 224 398 for a free quote.
