Asbestos in the Workplace: Part Two

The Asbestos Management Plan

When a workplace in Australia contains asbestos there are a number of legal requirements that must be adhered to, to ensure the safety of all occupants of the worksite.

One of these requirements is an up-to-date Asbestos Management Plan (AMP). The AMP is a document that details the asbestos concerns of your workplace, as well as the responsibilities of the different people or groups that may potentially disturb the materials, all with the aim of reducing the risk of asbestos exposure for all people who may visit the workplace.

Today, we’re going to help you understand all you need to know about asbestos management plans. But first, let us give you a bit of a refresher about asbestos and the requirements of workplaces in Australia.

First things first, what is asbestos and why is it bad?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral that is incredibly strong, durable, and has heat and water-resistant properties. Found in rock formations, asbestos is an abundant mineral that was mined all over the world. The abundancy and relatively low cost, as well as its strength and durability, saw asbestos gain popularity in the building and construction industry.

The peak of asbestos use in construction was between the 1950s to the 1990s, where it was used to create building materials. Asbestos fibres were commonly mixed in with adhesives like cement to create products like cement sheeting, but the fibres were also used on their own, sometimes being used as a form of insulation.

When asbestos fibres are mixed with other materials and not easily broken down, they are known as non-friable or bonded asbestos materials; and when asbestos fibres are loose, or able to be easily crumbled or pulverised by hand they are known as friable materials.

While asbestos was being used in many different forms, the awareness of asbestos related illnesses became more well-known in the 1980s. And from the late 1980s, asbestos-free alternative building materials started to be introduced into the construction industry, and the usage of ACMs was reduced.

However, due to the surplus of ACMs, they were still used until in the construction industry right up until the total ban of asbestos on December 31^st, 2003. From this date onwards, the use, sale, manufacture, or mining of asbestos was completely banned in Australia.

What is wrong with asbestos?

Asbestos is known to cause major incurable illnesses including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. These illnesses are caused by the swallowing, inhaling, breathing in and ingestion of asbestos fibres.

Besides being the actual cause of these illnesses, one of the major difficulties with asbestos is that when the fibres become airborne, they can be virtually impossible to see with the naked eye. This means that people are not necessarily aware that they are being exposed to asbestos.

Though it usually takes repeated exposure to asbestos fibres to develop these asbestos related illnesses, there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.

Exposure to asbestos can happen in a variety of ways. One of the most common ways in which people have been exposed to asbestos is through the accidental disturbance of ACMs. Water blasting, grinding, drilling, cutting, and sanding can disturb asbestos fibres that may be in non-friable building materials.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom – avoiding asbestos exposure in the workplace is possible. And this through the asbestos management plan and some additional steps.

Your first steps to managing asbestos in the workplace

If you own, manage, or lease a workplace that was built prior to 2004 in Australia, then it is a requirement to identify whether any asbestos or asbestos containing materials are present.

As we mentioned before, even though the use of asbestos containing materials decreased from the late 1980s, it wasn’t until the end of 2003 that asbestos was totally banned, so if a building was built prior to 2004, there is a chance that asbestos may be present in some form.

To determine whether asbestos is present in a workplace, an asbestos inspection needs to be conducted by a tertiary qualified asbestos assessor. They will be able to confidently identify all locations where asbestos may be present. Asbestos materials may be identified through a visual inspection or by taking samples of materials of the property and testing them in a NATA accredited lab – usually a combination of both.

If asbestos is identified, then an asbestos register must be completed. The asbestos register documents where asbestos has been found in a workplace, as well as the type and condition of the asbestos. The asbestos register is then used by contractors, tradespeople, or any persons conducting maintenance, renovations, or structural work of the site, to ensure that they are aware of the location of the asbestos.  This helps to reduce the likelihood of disturbance of the asbestos. You can learn more about asbestos registers here with “Asbestos in the workplace: part one – when and why you need an asbestos register”.

The creation of an asbestos register usually goes hand in hand with an asbestos management plan. Usually completed at the same time, the close link between these two documents can sometimes cause confusion. An easy way to differentiate between the two is to think of an asbestos register as being the document that outlines where and what type of asbestos has been found, while the management plan outlines the processes that are in place for dealing with that asbestos.

What is an Asbestos Management Plan?

The asbestos management plan is a document that details the asbestos concerns of your workplace, and the responsibilities of the different people and/or groups that may potentially disturb the materials.

An asbestos management plan should be easy to understand, simple to update and always be accessible.  The aim is to prevent the risk of exposure to airborne asbestos and be able to responsibly plan work to be carried out on the property that will avoid exposure.

What exactly is in an asbestos management plan?

Your asbestos management plan should clearly and concisely contain details of the below information:

• Any particular asbestos management issues for your site;
• The hierarchy of control and obligations of individuals;
• The responsibilities of contractors working on the site;
• Some general guidelines for asbestos removal works;
• Procedures to be followed for works associated with asbestos (e.g. drilling);
• Contingency plan, including site management tools such as sign-on registers and a place for record-keeping of any changes to the asbestos register; and
• Asbestos Emergency Procedures.

The asbestos register of the workplace is usually included as an appendix to your asbestos management plan.

Who is responsible for the AMP?

The responsibility for supplying an Asbestos Management Plan is, in most instances, the owner of the workplace. Though there are instances in which the responsibility may fall with the tenant of the building.

This usually occurs if the tenant is able to make structural changes to the property without the permission of the owner. If no asbestos management plan exists for a property that requires one, the person responsible for supplying it is subject to non-compliance fines, which can be up to $30,000.

It is the responsibility of the person with management or control of a workplace to review and maintain the asbestos management plan and making sure that the plan is easily accessible. This ensures that anyone who is required to conduct any work onsite can review the document before doing so.

When does the asbestos management plan need to be updated?

At a minimum, the asbestos management plan must be reviewed every 5 years. However, the asbestos management plan should be thought of as a live document that is revised and/or updated regularly as the circumstances around asbestos in the workplace change.

Your asbestos management plan should be reviewed and/or revised in any of the following circumstances:

• If the asbestos register is reviewed
• If changes occur to any of the control measures of asbestos in the workplace occurs
• If asbestos is removed, sealed, enclosed or disturbed in any way

 As long as asbestos is present in the workplace, the asbestos management plan should be reviewed regularly.

Benefits of an asbestos management plan

Besides avoiding non-compliance fines, having an asbestos management plan in place for a workplace is paramount for ensuring the safety of all people who will work or visit the workplace.

The asbestos management plan is a central point of the most up to date and relevant information regarding the asbestos in your workplace.  It outlines all asbestos present, provides site management tools to ensure that any activity related to asbestos is recorded and managed correctly and also allows you to plan ahead when it comes to the maintenance of the property.

The asbestos management plan removes the guesswork and uncertainty, and allows contractors, tradespeople, and anyone else who is required to, to conduct works on the property comfortably. And ultimately, it helps to reduce the risk of asbestos exposure.

What not to do when it comes to an asbestos management plan

Do not go it alone. It’s as simple as that.

If you’ve been researching asbestos management plans and the requirements of a workplace, you’re likely to have come across numerous asbestos management plan templates that you can purchase online. And if there is one piece of advice Greenlight can offer you, it is do not waste your time and risk the safety of anyone present on your worksite. 

Not only are these documents time consuming to put together yourself, without the thorough knowledge and understanding of asbestos, you run the risk of creating a document that does not comply with the current standards and risk fines.

As we already know, it is a requirement for a workplace built prior to 2004 to have an asbestos inspection to identify whether asbestos is present. This inspection needs to be conducted by a highly knowledgeable professional, who has extensive knowledge of building practices and asbestos, such as an occupational hygiene specialist.  

When asbestos is identified as being present, or likely to be present, in a workplace, an asbestos register needs to be created. And this register is usually created by the same people who inspected the workplace. In addition to the asbestos register, an asbestos management plan needs to be created as well and is usually done around the same time as the creation of the register.

Because of the close relationship between an asbestos register and asbestos management plan, it makes sense to work with someone who can not only help you inspect and identify the asbestos in your worksite, but someone who can provide you a comprehensive and detailed plan that will help you manage the asbestos in your workplace easily.

And that’s where greenlight comes in.

The Greenlight difference

At Greenlight we’re about more than just ticking a compliance box for you. Our aim is to provide you with an understanding of any asbestos risks in your workplace and help you understand how to manage these.

Whether you have an asbestos register in place already and just need to get an asbestos management plan in place or you are starting from scratch, our team can help.

We can review existing registers and create an asbestos management plan for you, or we can provide you with the whole service starting with an asbestos inspection.

Our team of tertiary-qualified and highly experienced asbestos assessors are able to inspect your workplace for asbestos materials and provide you with a comprehensive asbestos register that will outline not only the location, type and condition of the asbestos on site, but will also include a risk assessment. We can then prepare an asbestos management plan tailored to your site to help you manage asbestos in your workplace. As part of this service, we will include your Greenlight prepared asbestos register as an appendix so you can one comprehensive and cohesive compliance document for your workplace.   

At Greenlight we want to help you ensure the safety of any people who will be present in your workplace and our full-service catalogue has been designed to ensure that you can comfortably make informed decision when it comes to the management of asbestos in your workplace. If you own or manage a workplace in Melbourne and/or Victoria, give Greenlight a call today.