Work Area Access Permit procedure

Audience

Department-wide

Purpose

This procedure outlines the roles, responsibilities and processes for the application of Work Area Access Permits (WAAPs) in department-owned facilities.

Overview

A WAAP is a formal departmental authorisation granting conditional access to specific work areas in a departmental facility for works conducted by service providers, departmental employees and volunteers.  They provide a vehicle to:

• communicate departmental requirements such as installation of warning signage and barriers, conduct of risk assessments for electrical hazards, reviewing asbestos registers before commencing works
• communicate the need for workers to read and comply with the contents of the WAAP
• record acceptance of departmental conditions for carrying out work
• identify the departmental representative who has authorised the access
• identify the service provider who has received the authorisation.

A WAAP is generated from a template (used by multiple government agencies) that is available in the Built Environment Materials Information Register (BEMIR).  

This procedure addresses the requirements for determining whether a WAAP is required for works and the processes for creating, issuing and closing WAAPs. It also outlines requirements for WAAP record management and WAAP related training. This procedure also outlines when period WAAPs may be used by departmental employees to create efficiencies at departmental facilities.

This procedure supports the Asbestos management plan for Department of Education facilities and should be read in conjunction with the:

• Asbestos management procedure
• Asbestos incident management procedure – see procedure for definition of ‘asbestos-related incidents’ and scope of application of the procedure to service provider incidents
• Asbestos management, asbestos incident and work area access permit delegations process.

Responsibilities

All employees

• must hold a WAAP for works where required  
• only authorise access via a WAAP if the relevant delegation is held 
• retain WAAP records in accordance with the Tool: Asbestos and WAAP records and retention schedule 
• participate in relevant asbestos management and WAAP training in line with allocated responsibilities.

Officer in charge

The OIC is the accountable officer for WAAPs at a facility and consequently responsible for ensuring all responsibilities are implemented. Some of the responsibilities:

• must be exercised only by the OIC (these responsibilities are not delegable and will generally be expressed in the procedure as something the OIC ‘must’ do, for example, “the OIC must give XYZ to a person”)
• may be carried out by departmental employees who have received formal delegation (and completed the associated training) to exercise the responsibility. These responsibilities will generally be expressed in the procedure as something the OIC or an OIC delegate must do, for example, “the OIC or OIC delegate must give XYZ to a person”)
• may be carried out in accordance with instructions and systems, approved by the OIC, to support the responsibility being met (these will generally be expressed in the procedure as something the OIC must ‘ensure’ is done, for example, “the OIC must ensure XYX is installed”).

Delegation eligibility and delegable OIC responsibilities are outlined in the Asbestos management, asbestos incident, and work area access permit delegations process (including the responsibilities that can be exercised by a delegate). 

• establish formal delegations for WAAP activities 
• ensure WAAPs are created for required works and remain open for the duration of the works 
• ensure WAAP requirements for departmental staff, volunteers and service providers are applied, in accordance with this procedure 
• ensure mechanisms are in place to facilitate the raising of WAAPs where access to BEMIR is not available or not practicable 
• review and activate WAAPs in BEMIR 
• ensure activated WAAPs are printed, signed by all parties and retained at the facility’s central control point for the duration of the works 
• authorise access to work areas by signing WAAPs 
• ensure a copy of the relevant sections of the asbestos register for the facility are provided to the employee, volunteer or service provider to take to the work area 
• ensure volunteers who receive WAAPs sign the relevant sections of the WAAP and are provided instruction in accordance with this procedure 
• attend start work meetings, as required by this procedure 
• conduct inspection of work areas upon completion of works and close WAAPs 
• ensure closed WAAPs are closed electronically in BEMIR 
• ensure a BEMIR training register is maintained.

Person responsible for a service provider contract

• ensure arrangements for start work meetings, as outlined in this procedure, are applied.

Process

Image 1 - WAAP process

Establish WAAP delegations

The OIC must establish WAAP delegations in accordance with the Tool: Asbestos management, asbestos incident, and work area access permit delegations process.

Determine if a WAAP is required for the works

The OIC must ensure a WAAP is created prior to the commencement of the following works, regardless of whether the works are intended to disturb Asbestos Containing Material (ACM):

• planned and unplanned maintenance work
• project work (including work of a minor nature such as installation of building notice boards)
• building-related inspections that have the potential to involve the disturbance of building materials
• pricing-related inspections that require entry into concealed cavities or spaces, such as ceiling voids
• asbestos-related incident response, for example, make-safe and clean-up activities
• sampling of building materials for analysis
• any other building or construction works that could cause disturbance to building materials. 

A WAAP must also be created prior to the commencement of maintenance-related cleaning work on non-ACMs, i.e. deep cleaning of building materials using abrasive cleaning equipment, for example, high pressure cleaners and abrasive surface scrubbers). Note: Section 446 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) prohibits high-pressure water spray and compressed air on ACM.  Abrasive cleaning methods must not be conducted on ACM regardless of whether a WAAP has been issued for the works.

A WAAP is not required for the following activities, which are identified to present negligible risk of building materials disturbance during the activities:

• day to day gardening
• general cleaning (see above for maintenance-related cleaning) servicing of office equipment
• laundry services
• general rubbish removal.

Consideration should be given to the number of WAAPs that may be needed to accommodate progressive reoccupation of work areas, for example, where works are anticipated to include multiple buildings within the facility.

The OIC must ensure the WAAP remains open for the duration of the works and until all WAAP close-out steps have been taken.

Apply WAAP requirements

Departmental employees

Where it is determined that a WAAP is required for work, departmental employees must obtain the WAAP before commencing work.

The OIC must ensure departmental employees who receive a WAAP have completed the asbestos training relevant to the employee’s role (refer Mandatory Annual Training – Ready Reckoner).

A period WAAP may be applied for certain tasks conducted by departmental employees. The period WAAP is generated in the same way as a non-period WAAP and must:

• be issued for:
  •  a specified period of time
  •  not more than:
    • six months in a calendar year for an ACM site
    • twelve months in a calendar year for a non-ACM site
• only be issued for tasks of a minor nature, where building materials are likely to be disturbed, that arise on a regular basis within a facility and for which it is not reasonably practicable (due to likely service provider timeliness and cost) for the facility to engage a service provider. Examples include:
  • hanging a picture on a non-ACM wall
  • drilling holes in a non-ACM wall for simple shelf
  • preparing non-ACM surfaces for minor paint touch ups
  • deep cleaning of non-ACM surfaces.

The OIC must ensure departmental employees who receive a period WAAP are instructed to review the asbestos register prior to any works on building materials at an ACM site.

Volunteers

The OIC must ensure volunteers (including Parents and Citizens Association members) who receive a WAAP have completed the asbestos training relevant to Parents and Citizens Association members.

Service providers

The WAAP for a service provider, authorised by the OIC or an OIC delegate, must be issued to the person who accepts responsibility for the on-site supervision and conduct of the work described on the WAAP, for example, the project manager, supervisor or the actual worker.

 The OIC must ensure service providers:

• who receive a WAAP are instructed to only undertake work that is covered by the WAAP
• are not issued period WAAPs.

Create WAAP

Raise WAAP in BEMIR

The OIC must ensure a WAAP is raised for required works using Tool: Raise and close WAAP in BEMIR guideline.

The OIC must ensure that the following statement, as relevant, is inserted into an attached “OIC Special Conditions” of a WAAP:

Departmental employees are prohibited from undertaking work on assumed or confirmed ACM regardless of whether a WAAP is held.  Therefore, the Conditions of Access and Sections A and B of the ‘After the Work is Completed’ section of the WAAP do not apply.

Volunteers are prohibited from undertaking work on assumed or confirmed ACM regardless of whether a WAAP is held.  Therefore, only some of the Conditions of Access and Sections A and B of the ‘After the Work is Completed’ section of the WAAP apply.

The OIC must ensure mechanisms are in place to facilitate the raising of WAAPs where access to BEMIR is:

• not available, for example during electrical or network outages
• not reasonably practicable prior to the work being conducted, for example unplanned or urgent work.

The mechanisms must include:

• the use of a hard copy Template: WAAP
• the review of the hard copy by the OIC (for correctness and completeness)
• updating BEMIR with the hard copy WAAP details as soon as possible after the system becomes available
• noting of the unique permit number (generated by BEMIR) on the hard copy WAAP.

Where works are to be conducted at a facility at a time when it is not practicable for facility employees to be available (for example, on weekends or school holidays), the person responsible for the service provider carrying out the work must establish mechanisms with the facility to ensure:

• an authorised WAAP is accessible by the service provider for signature before works commence
• a copy of the asbestos register is available for the service provider to take to the work area for workers to review
• service providers sign the “After the work is completed - service provider” section of the WAAP after the works have been completed
• an inspection by the facility is conducted prior to the work area being reoccupied.

Activate WAAP in BEMIR and print

For all raised WAAPs, the OIC or an OIC delegate must:

• review WAAP details
• activate the WAAP if complete and correct.

The OIC must ensure the activated WAAP is printed.

Authorise access via WAAP

The OIC or an OIC delegate must sign the ‘Authorise Access’ section of the WAAP, once printed.

Employees must not sign to authorise access via WAAP unless they have been assigned the relevant delegation in line with the Asbestos management, asbestos incident and work area access permit delegations process.

Issue WAAP

Departmental employees

Employees receiving a WAAP must:

• sign the “Before the work commences - service providers” section of the WAAP
• confirm the safe work procedure to be applied for the works under the WAAP
• review the contents of the asbestos register to determine whether the proposed works would involve the disturbance of assumed or confirmed ACM if the works proceeded
• confirm whether the site has an Asbestos in soil site management plan and, if it does, review the contents to understand:
  • the presence of asbestos in soils at the site
  • relevant safety controls to be maintained
• not conduct work on ACM, regardless of whether a WAAP is held.

The OIC must ensure:

• the signed WAAP is retained at the facility’s central control point for the duration of the works
• a copy of the:
  • full asbestos register for the facility is provided, to employees receiving a period WAAP, for referral before works are conducted
  • relevant sections of the asbestos register for the facility are provided, to employees receiving a non-period WAAP, to take to the work area.

Volunteers

The OIC must ensure that a volunteer:

• signs the “Before the work commences - service providers” section of the WAAP
• is instructed to:
  • read the following:
    • WAAP Conditions of access:
      • local instructions
      • provide Warning Signs and Barriers
      • managing electrical risks (including in ceiling spaces)
    • any relevant OIC Special Conditions
  • review the contents of the asbestos register to determine whether the proposed works would involve the disturbance of assumed or confirmed ACM if the works proceeded
  • not conduct work on ACM, regardless of whether a WAAP is held.

The OIC must ensure:

• the signed WAAP is retained at the facility’s central control point for the duration of the works
• a copy of the relevant sections of the asbestos register for the facility are provided to the volunteer to take to the work area.

Service Provider

The person responsible for the service provider contract must ensure the following arrangements are applied for start work meetings:

• Centrally and regionally delivered projects – contractor engagement opportunities are maximised through the application of the Infrastructure Services Division project delivery checklist. This can be accessed from CM: 12/437705 (DoE employees only).
• School managed facility projects – contractor engagement opportunities are to be maximised through the application of 8.2 start work meeting of the school managed facility project instructions. 

For planned and unplanned maintenance – the person responsible for the service provider contract must ensure the service provider receives:

• specific instructions regarding the scope of work to be undertaken
• a WAAP (with the relevant section of the facility's asbestos register)
• contact details for relevant facility personnel.

Close WAAP

The OIC or an OIC delegate must, upon notification that the work has been completed:

• conduct an inspection (with the service provider if the works were conducted by a service provider) to confirm that there are no visible signs that the area is not safe for reoccupation.  Examples that the area may not be safe for re-occupation include presence of:
  • dust or debris in an ACM site
  • new penetrations in floor, ceiling or wall surfaces
  • protruding sharp objects
  • trip hazards
• establish whether any make-safes were conducted as part of the works and confirm that the WAAP identifies them if they have been conducted
• verify that the “After the work is completed - service provider” section of the WAAP is completed and signed by the service provider representative, departmental employee or volunteer, as relevant
• close the permit by completing and signing the “After the work is completed - client" section of the WAAP*.

* Note: the departmental WAAP template is a generic template used by multiple Government agencies.  The reference to Nominated Officer in the “After the work is completed - service provider” section of the WAAP means the OIC in the case of this procedure.

 The OIC must ensure that:

• closed WAAPs are uploaded into BEMIR with copies of relevant documentation attached, including relevant post works asbestos documents such as analysis results, clearance certificates, building change line drawings and photos
• WAAPs are closed electronically in BEMIR, using Tool: Quick Reference Guide - Raise and close work area access permits in BEMIR, within 20 working days of the OIC signing that the WAAP is closed
• closed WAAPs are filed in the facility’s records management record system, along with supporting documentation, in accordance with the Tool: Asbestos management and WAAP records and retention schedule.

The OIC must ensure make-safes and their respective ACMID numbers, identified on WAAPs, are entered into BEMIR during the electronic closing of the WAAP.

Participate in required training

Employees must participate in relevant asbestos management and WAAP training in line with allocated responsibilities.

The OIC must ensure employees have participated in the training outlined in the current Mandatory Annual Training – Ready Reckoner.

The OIC must ensure an up-to-date register of departmental employees who have received BEMIR training is maintained.  For ACM sites, this will be achieved through ongoing updates to the site-specific AMP.  For non-ACM sites, this will be achieved through the formal delegations register for the facility. The facility may use Template: WAAP delegations and BEMIR training register for non-ACM sites (see example of completed template in Tool: Example WAAP delegations and BEMIR training register).

Retain WAAP records

Employees must retain WAAP records in line with the Tool: Asbestos management and WAAP records and retention schedule.

The OIC must ensure mechanisms are established to support employee application of correct record retention requirements for WAAP records.

Definitions

Legislation

• Public Records Act 2002 (Qld)  
• How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace Code of Practice

Delegations/Authorisations

• Nil

Other resources

• Template: Asbestos management plan for Department of Education facilities 
• Tool: Asbestos management, asbestos incident and work area access permit delegations process 
• Tool: Asbestos management and WAAP records and retention schedule
• Template: Facilities change document 
• Tool: Mandatory Annual Training – Ready Reckoner 
• Template: WAAP 
• Tool: Working on Department of Education facilities 

Superseded versions

Previous seven years shown. Minor version updates not included.

Nil