NSW: Asbestos Registers in Strata Buildings: Where to Keep Them, Who Can Access Them and What’s Required

Question: We are aware of asbestos in our 12 lot building and have had an asbestos report done. Do we need to keep a register on-site? Where should the asbestos report be kept and should it be available to contractors?

Answer: Yes and so should the Asbestos Management Plan!

The concept around the onsite register is to help protect a person from exposing themselves and others to airborne asbestos fibres. If your scheme has been inspected and it was deemed to have ACM in the common property areas, the committee have a duty of care to show where the ACM is located. They would do this by having a register located in a place that is easily accessed by contractors or other person undertaking works in the areas where ACM has been identified.

Before commencing work, the person undertaking the task would view the register and undertake their own WHS assessment of the area. They would then access the AMP (Asbestos Management Plan) and follow the prescribed instructions e.g. if fitting an air-con unit to a wall deemed to contain ACM, the contractor would fit their PPE gear and use a wetting agent before drilling. Any waste would be placed in the appropriate bag and then disposed of using the correct place for ACM waste. A record of this job would be recorded in the AMP so the next contractor on site can see what work was done previously and assess what action they may need to take.

Sidenote: An example of why ACM must be disposed of properly. Little Bay Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was closed recently for two weeks after more than 1000 pieces of asbestos-containing materials were discovered in the past eight months.

Where to store the Register/AMP?

The Register/AMP should be stored where it would be relatively convenient to access e.g. in a Document Compliance/Essential Services Box with a 003 key installed on the common property. This is the most common storage option, especially where a scheme has no other obvious storage location such as a cabinet in a foyer. The cost installed would be between $300-$400 and most contractors carry a 003 key for access so no need for a committee member to have to be home to provide the Onsite Register/AMP.

How often must the Onsite Register/AMP be updated?

Where Asbestos Containing Material has been identified, it is a requirement that the Onsite Register and Asbestos Management Plan (AMP) be reviewed and revised at least every five years. This is the case if nothing prompts an earlier inspection.

Review of asbestos management plan

Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 – REG 430

1. A person with management or control of a workplace that has an asbestos management plan must ensure that the plan is reviewed and as necessary revised in the following circumstances:
   
   1. There is a review of the asbestos register or a control measure,
   2. Asbestos is removed from, or disturbed, sealed or enclosed at, the workplace,
   3. The plan is no longer adequate for managing ACM at the workplace,
   4. (d) A health and safety representative requests a review under subclause (2),
   5. (e) At least once every 5 years if nothing has prompted a reinspection.

Maximum penalty:

1. (a) In the case of an individual—$3,600, or
2. (b) In the case of a corporation —$18,000.

2. (2) A health and safety representative for workers at a workplace may request a review of an asbestos management plan if the representative reasonably believes that:
   
   1. (a) A circumstance referred to in subclause (1) (a), (b) or (c) affects or may affect the health and safety of a member of the work group represented by the health and safety representative, and
   2. (b) The person with management and control of the workplace has not adequately reviewed the asbestos management plan in response to the circumstance.

Asbestos management plan

Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 – REG 429 requires a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to engage a competent person to identify all Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM) within their building.

Where Asbestos has been found, the PCBU is to keep an onsite asbestos register, which is to be available for employees, contractors and volunteers when working onsite, as well as having an Asbestos Management Plan prepared for the property. The maximum penalty for breach of these requirements is $30 000 for an individual or $3 000 000 for a Corporation.

The How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice requires that the date of construction is taken into account as buildings built prior to 31 December 2003 were not subject to the current ban on the use of chrysotile (white) asbestos. As such, it is required that all pre-2004 buildings have asbestos surveys conducted per regulation 422 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011.

This post appears in Strata News #645.

Peter Berney
Solutions in Engineering
E: peter@solutionsinengineering.com
P: 1300 136 036