Management of Asbestos in Workplaces

A person who has management or control of a building, structure or mine that is used as a workplace has specific duty of care obligations in relation to asbestos. These obligations are set out in Division 9 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulations 1998 and are summarised below.

1. The person in control of the building, structure or mine must take all reasonably practicable steps to identify the presence of any asbestos in the workplace.
   
   
2. They must carry out a risk assessment on the potential exposure to airborne asbestos fibres of any person entering the workplace and take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that any person is not exposed to airborne asbestos fibres in excess of the allowable exposure standard.
   
   
3. Employees, members of safety committees, employees' safety representative and any person engaged by a tenant must be informed of the location of any asbestos within the building, structure or mine and any precautions necessary to minimise the risk to the health and safety of those persons.
   
   
4. Any tenants and building maintenance and servicing personnel employed or engaged by the person who has management or control must be informed of the location of the asbestos.
   
   
5. The location of all asbestos that is identified must be recorded in a register. All identified asbestos must be regularly inspected to ensure that it does not deteriorate or constitute a health risk. The dates and findings of each inspection must be recorded in the register.
   
   
6. The register must be made available on request to any tenant, employee of a tenant, inspector or building maintenance and service personnel.
   
   
7. In any area of the workplace in which asbestos is present and regular maintenance or repair work is likely to be carried out, signs or labels must be provided to alert persons undertaking such work of the location of the asbestos and any precautions that should be taken.
   
   
8. Any person who may be exposed to airborne asbestos fibres must receive adequate information, instruction and training to make them aware of any risks involved in the performance of the work and the precautions necessary to protect their health.

These requirements are minimum legal requirements which are enforced by Workplace Standards Inspectors. However, in addition to these requirements it is strongly recommended that an asbestos management plan be developed for all workplaces that contain asbestos. The National Code of Practice for the Management and Control of Asbestos in the Workplace offers excellent guidance for the development of a management plan.

For information on managment of asbestos in your home visit the Asbestos in Tasmania website. www.asbestos.tas.gov.au