Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00418:body:0:p2
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00418
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 2851–5598

asbestos is an approved code of practice under section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act (the WHS Act).
An approved code of practice is a practical guide to achieving the standards of health, safety and welfare required under the WHS Act and the Work Health and Safety Regulations (the WHS Regulations).
A code of practice applies to anyone who has a duty of care in the circumstances described in the code. In most cases, following an approved code of practice would achieve compliance with the health and safety duties in the WHS Act, in relation to the subject matter of the code. Like regulations, codes of practice deal with particular issues and do not cover all hazards or risks that may arise. The health and safety duties require duty holders to consider all risks associated with work, not only those for which regulations and codes of practice exist.
Codes of practice are admissible in court proceedings under the WHS Act and Regulations. Courts may regard a code of practice as evidence of what is known about a hazard, risk or control and may rely on the code in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to which the code relates.
The WHS Act and the Regulations may be complied with by following another method, such as a technical or an industry standard, if it provides an equivalent or higher standard of work health and safety than the code.
An inspector may refer to an approved code of practice when issuing an improvement or prohibition notice.
This Code of Practice has been developed by Safe Work Australia as a model code of practice under the Council of Australian Governments' Inter-Governmental Agreement for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Occupational Health and Safety for adoption by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments.
A draft of this Code of Practice was released for public consultation on 7 December 2010 and was endorsed by the Workplace Relations Ministers' Council on 10 August 2011.

Scope and application
This Code provides practical guidance for persons conducting a business or undertaking who have duties under the WHS Act and WHS Regulations to safely remove asbestos from all workplaces including structures, plant and equipment.
A person conducting a business or undertaking may be an asbestos removalist who may carry out asbestos removal work that does not require a licence, Class A asbestos removal work or Class B asbestos removal work. This could include both asbestos removal companies and those persons who may carry out small asbestos removal jobs and may not have an asbestos licence, for example tradespersons.
It is recommended that other persons with responsibility—for example, a person conducting a business or undertaking who commissions