Asbestos Awareness Week - Asbestos in the workplace and your requirements

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In 2020, Asbestos Awareness Week runs from 23 - 29 November with the theme ‘asbestos lurks in more places than you’d think’, supplemented with the sub-theme ‘before you start, be aware’. The campaign messaging has three parts:

KNOW the health risks of asbestos exposure
BE AWARE of where asbestos might be found before you start work
CALL a professional to check, remove and dispose of it safely.

This year, Greencap is sharing short pieces about asbestos regulations, requirements and best practices. This first piece focuses on requirements around Asbestos Registers and Asbestos Management Plans.

Asbestos in the workplace and your requirements

In order to comply with relevant Codes of Practice and Work Health and Safety Regulations in each Australian state and territory, it is important to identify, within the practical constraints of access, the presence, location and condition of asbestos-containing materials (ACM), and maintain and update documents for sites in relation to any (ACM) present.

All buildings and workplaces built prior to 2003 are required to have an asbestos register. If asbestos is present, you MUST have an Asbestos Management Plan (AMP). The AMP sets out how asbestos or ACM that is identified at the workplace will be managed. This Asbestos Register and AMP must be updated every 5 years in all states (excluding WA).

The person with management or control of the workplace must ensure the AMP is readily accessible to personnel, workers and health and safety representatives who have or are going to carry out work in that workplace.

If you are a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) or employer who believes you are non-compliant with the above requirements, contact Greencap's hazardous material specialists to understand your legal obligations.

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