What should a Queensland trade employer do if asbestos is found on a job?

First response (our recommendation)

This sequence is our suggestion, not a statutory checklist. Stop work that could disturb the material, restrict access, and tell the person who manages or controls the site and your supervisor. Photograph the area from a safe distance without disturbing anything. Leave sampling and identification to a competent person. Work should not resume until someone with the right authority has decided how the material will be dealt with.

Sources[2][1]

What the management plan provisions say

Where the asbestos management plan provisions apply and asbestos is identified or likely to be present, the person managing or controlling the workplace must prepare and maintain a written plan. It records the asbestos, management decisions and reasons, incident and emergency procedures and arrangements for workers involved in asbestos work. Workers, their health and safety representatives and businesses working there must be able to access it.

The plan must be reviewed in listed circumstances, including when asbestos is removed, disturbed, sealed or enclosed, and at least once every 5 years.

Sources[2]

Identification, assumptions and domestic premises

Section 422 requires identification by a competent person so far as reasonably practicable. If material cannot be identified but a competent person reasonably believes it is asbestos, it must be assumed to be asbestos. An inaccessible part likely to contain asbestos must also be treated as containing it.

Section 421 excludes domestic premises from sections 425 to 430, which cover registers and management plans. That exception does not remove the identification and risk duties. For other premises, check the register requirements and their specific exceptions; do not assume every workplace needs the same paperwork.

Sources[2]

Removal, licences and clearance

WorkSafe says removal must follow the WHS Regulation and may need a Class A or B asbestos removal licence, depending on the type and amount of asbestos. A licensed removalist must prepare an asbestos removal control plan before licensed removal starts, and licensed removal and certain demolition work must be notified to WHSQ beforehand. A clearance inspection is carried out when licensed work is complete.

For demolition, asbestos must be removed first so far as reasonably practicable. Do not read that as a rule that all asbestos must be removed from every job: a management plan records decisions, and reasons, about managing asbestos at the workplace.

Sources[1][2]

Suspected asbestos site note you can adapt

This note is our suggested layout. Replace every square bracket.

SUSPECTED ASBESTOS SITE NOTE

Site: [address]   Date and time found: [DD/MM/YYYY, time]   Found by: [name]
Location and material: [description of where, and what it looks like]
Work paused at: [time]   Work stopped: [description]
Access restricted by: [how]
Told: [site manager or owner, supervisor, time]
Photos taken from a safe distance: [yes / no]
Assessed by: [competent person, date]   Result: [asbestos / not asbestos / unknown]
Register or management plan checked: [reference, or not applicable and why]
Licensed removal or other plan needed: [decision, by whom]
Work resumes only when: [condition and who confirms]

Sources[2][1]

Common questions

How can you tell if it's asbestos?

Have a competent person assess it rather than deciding from appearance. Under Queensland section 422, if material cannot be identified but a competent person reasonably believes it is asbestos, it must be assumed to be asbestos. Keep work that could disturb it paused while the site manager arranges the assessment and controls.[1][2]

What to do if you find asbestos in soil?

Pause work that could disturb the material and arrange competent assessment. Soil may contain discarded asbestos products or naturally occurring asbestos, which require different assessments. For naturally occurring asbestos identified or likely at a workplace, sections 431 to 434 require risk management and a written management plan; ask the site manager and a competent asbestos specialist how the actual material should be handled.[2]