What goes in an asbestos register

Under the model regulations, the register records all asbestos identified at the workplace or likely to be present from time to time, with the date it was identified and its location, type and condition; or it states that none has been identified. Everything else in a good register exists to make those entries easy to find and act on.

General information, not legal or safety advice. Safe Work Australia is reviewing the model asbestos framework, including the regulations and codes of practice, and your Commonwealth, state or territory WHS regulator can advise on registers and compliance.

The entries every register needs

Safe Work Australia’s registers guide says the register must record every piece of asbestos and ACM that has been identified, or is assumed to be present, at the workplace, with the date, the type, the condition and the location of each. The right-hand column shows the guide’s own worked example, a single line from its sample register.

Four required entries, with Safe Work Australia’s example
Entry	In the guide’s words	Its example line
Date	“the date the asbestos or ACM was identified”, or the date it was assumed present, such as the survey date or laboratory results	21/11/2022, sample S001
Type	“the type of asbestos”	Fibre cement wall sheeting, approx. 15m2, non-friable
Condition	“the condition of the asbestos or ACM”	“Stable condition, no deterioration, painted surface.”
Location	“where the asbestos or ACM can be found at the workplace”, given as a location or a description	“Bathroom in main building, southeast, green wall.”

The example’s notes column marks the area as accessible, says to encapsulate the material to keep it in a stable condition, and says to remove it before any refurbishment or demolition work.

What a fuller register adds

The model code suggests a comprehensive register may also carry details of assumed asbestos, test results showing whether a material is asbestos, the dates of identification, inaccessible areas and any past removal work, with photographs or drawings where they help. Assumed material is written in plainly, with a short line such as “Roof sheeting is presumed to contain asbestos.”

Safe Work Australia’s sample register also opens with fields that are easy to skip and worth filling:

areas not assessed during the survey, and why;
where to find related documents, such as the survey report, the asbestos management plan, clearance certificates, the removal control plan and the safe work method statement;
an outline of consultation with workers and their representatives;
the workplace owner or manager and the competent person, with their details.

The guide adds that you should include photographs, with labels, of the asbestos and ACM identified or assumed, and that its presence and location should also be marked on site plans.

Victoria’s list is longer

Victoria works under its own regulations. Its official asbestos site says a Victorian register must be kept current and record:

where the asbestos is, and the likely source of any asbestos that is not fixed or installed;
the type of material, and whether it is friable or non-friable;
its condition, and whether it is likely to be damaged or to deteriorate;
for inaccessible areas that may hold asbestos, the location and likely source;
as far as possible, the activities at the workplace likely to damage or disturb it.

Where the register lives

The guide says the register must be easy to get to at the workplace, at all times. The guide weighs three ways to keep it: an online database reached by a web address or QR code, which it says should be backed up and secured; a copy on the workplace’s own server, which contractors may need printed for them; or paper, which may suit a small business with one or two sites but can be lost or damaged, with version control a problem.

Before anyone disturbs it

Asbestos in good condition that is left alone is unlikely to release fibres, and the model code rates the health risk then as extremely low. Disturbing it is what puts fibres in the air, and Safe Work Australia warns that breathing them can cause life-threatening diseases, among them asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, which may not show until 20 to 30 years after exposure.

The national agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and its workplace page says WHS laws, in most circumstances, require removal from a workplace to be done by a licensed asbestos removalist.

Never on asbestos: the model regulations bar a business from using high-pressure water spray or compressed air on it; the agency warns against cleaning any asbestos material with high-pressure water or abrasion such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding; SafeWork NSW explains that cutting, drilling and water blasting release fibres into the air; and Queensland’s renovation guidance says not to “saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials”.

Asbestos waste, the agency says, must go to a landfill site licensed to accept it, and the model code adds that it never goes in the general waste system and is carried and disposed of under your own state or territory environment protection authority’s rules.