Asbestos Soil Disturbance & Contaminated Land SWMS

Asbestos in soil and contaminated land covers the assessment, handling, remediation and disposal of soil that contains asbestos — typically from the historic demolition of asbestos-containing buildings, buried building rubble, illegal dumping, or weathered fragments worked into the ground over decades. It is a distinct discipline from building-element asbestos removal: the asbestos is mixed through the soil as bonded fragments, fibre bundles or fine fibres, the contamination can be spread across a large area, and disturbing, excavating or stockpiling the soil can release airborne fibres and spread contamination across a site and beyond it. Asbestos remains a Group 1 carcinogen, and the diseases it causes appear decades after exposure, so the work is controlled to keep the soil wetted and contained and to prevent both inhalation and the migration of contamination. This document is written on the basis that contaminated soil is identified and assessed before it is disturbed, and that excavation proceeds only under controls that keep fibres out of the air.

Work that involves, or is likely to involve, the disturbance of asbestos in soil is high risk construction work, so a safe work method statement is required, and where the work is licensed asbestos removal it also requires an asbestos removal control plan, the appropriate licence and the associated monitoring and clearance. Asbestos-contaminated soil and the dust associated with it are handled under the asbestos removal regime, and friable contamination or asbestos-contaminated dust beyond a minor quantity engages the Class A licence. The work typically sits within a broader contaminated-land framework: a site assessment establishes the nature and extent of the contamination, a remediation approach is selected, the soil is classified for disposal, and validation confirms the land is fit for its intended use. Air monitoring is used to confirm control during disturbance, and the soil is transported and disposed of as asbestos-contaminated waste at a facility authorised to accept it. This document coordinates the asbestos controls with the contaminated-land and waste requirements.

Hazards identified

8 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.

1. 1Elimination: where the contaminated soil can be left undisturbed and capped or managed in place under a long-term management plan consistent with the land use, avoid excavation and the disturbance it causes.
2. 2Substitution: select the remediation approach that minimises disturbance and off-site movement for the contamination and land use — for example controlled on-site containment over extensive excavation where appropriate.
3. 3Engineering: keep the soil wetted during all disturbance, excavation, screening and loading to suppress fibre and dust release, and use dust suppression at stockpiles and haul routes.
4. 4Engineering: establish exclusion zones, wheel and boot wash and contained stockpiles so contamination is not tracked or wind-blown beyond the work area.
5. 5Administrative: carry out a contaminated-land site assessment to establish the nature and extent of the asbestos contamination before the soil is disturbed, and select and document the remediation approach.
6. 6Administrative: prepare a SWMS for the high risk construction work, and where the work is licensed asbestos removal — friable contamination or asbestos-contaminated dust beyond a minor quantity — engage the Class A regime with an asbestos removal control plan, licence, monitoring and clearance; notify the regulator of the licensed removal as required.
7. 7Administrative: arrange air monitoring during soil disturbance to confirm the controls hold, including at the site boundary where neighbours may be affected, with an independent licensed asbestos assessor where the licensed regime applies.
8. 8Administrative: classify the contaminated soil for disposal, transport it as asbestos-contaminated waste, and dispose of it at a facility authorised and licensed to accept asbestos-contaminated soil, with the tracking documented.
9. 9Administrative: decontaminate workers, plant and equipment before they leave the area, and provide personal decontamination facilities so fibres and contamination are not carried off site.
10. 10Administrative: validate the remediation — confirm by inspection and sampling that the soil meets the criteria for the intended land use — and document the validation before the land is returned to use, with a long-term management plan where contamination is retained in place.
11. 11PPE: fit-tested negative-pressure respiratory protection appropriate to the disturbance, upgraded for friable contamination or higher-risk work, selected and maintained per AS/NZS 1715 and AS/NZS 1716, with disposable coveralls removed and bagged at decontamination.
12. 12PPE: gloves, eye protection to AS/NZS 1337.1, and Class I or Class II safety footwear with protective toecap to AS/NZS 2210.3, decontaminated or disposed of as asbestos waste.
13. 13Administrative: confirm all workers hold a valid White Card (General Construction Induction Training, CPCCWHS1001) and current asbestos training appropriate to the work, and consult the workers and record the consultation.
14. 14Administrative: review and update the SWMS and any control plan whenever the extent of contamination, the remediation approach or site conditions change, after any incident, or when a worker or health and safety representative raises a concern.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

A developer is preparing a former industrial site for redevelopment, and a contaminated-land assessment identifies asbestos fragments and fibre contamination through the surface soil from the historic demolition of asbestos cement buildings. Because excavating the soil will disturb asbestos, the work is high risk construction work, and because the contamination includes asbestos-contaminated dust beyond a minor quantity, the licensed asbestos removal regime applies — a Class A removalist, an asbestos removal control plan, a SWMS, and the regulator notified. The assessment establishes the extent and depth of contamination and a remediation approach is selected and documented. An independent licensed asbestos assessor is engaged for air monitoring, including at the site boundary because of neighbouring premises. During remediation the soil is kept wetted through excavation, screening and loading, exclusion zones and a wheel and boot wash prevent tracking, and stockpiles are contained and suppressed. The contaminated soil is classified and transported as asbestos-contaminated waste to a facility authorised to accept it, with the loads tracked. Workers and plant are decontaminated before leaving the area. When remediation is complete, validation sampling and inspection confirm the soil meets the criteria for the intended residential land use, the validation is documented, and only then is the land cleared for redevelopment.

Related legislation

• Model Work Health and Safety Act — primary duty of care; the duty to consult workers; the reckless-conduct offence; and notifiable-incident provisions, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
• Model Work Health and Safety Regulations — the asbestos removal licensing, control plan, monitoring and clearance provisions as applied to asbestos-contaminated soil and dust; and the high risk construction work provisions requiring a SWMS for the disturbance of asbestos and, where applicable, for work in or near a trench or excavation, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
• Contaminated-land and environmental requirements: site assessment, soil classification, disposal of asbestos-contaminated waste at an authorised facility, and validation of remediation for the intended land use, as administered by the relevant state environmental regulator.
• Where the licensed regime applies, clearance and air-monitoring requirements apply: clear of visible asbestos contamination and, where air monitoring is used, below 0.01 fibres per millilitre.
• Victoria operates under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, and the relevant Victorian environmental and contaminated-land instruments, in place of the model and other jurisdictions' instruments.

Frequently asked questions