4. CONTROLLING RISKS IN DEMOLITION WORK
4.1 The building or structure to be demolished
The person conducting a business or undertaking in control of the demolition work should consult with the designer and / or the principal contractor if appointed where reasonably practicable, to obtain a written report specifying the hazards associated with the design and the structure in the planning stage of the demolition work. Specific hazards may be outlined in a demolition plan.
The building or structure to be demolished and all its components should be maintained in a safe and structurally stable condition so as to prevent the unexpected collapse of part or all the structure. Temporary braces, propping, shoring or guys may need to be added to ensure that stability of the structure is maintained.
The position, depth and type of basements, wells and underground storage tanks should also be determined as should the contents of any storage tanks.
Adjoining properties and structures also need to be considered, as do the existence of easements, right of way, boundary walls and other encumbrances.
4.2 Hazardous chemicals and materials
Regulation 49
A person conducting a business or undertaking at a workplace must ensure that no person at the workplace is exposed to a substance or mixture in an airborne concentration that exceeds the exposure standard for the substance or mixture.
Demolition work may involve workplaces or structures that contain or have contained hazardous materials, including chemicals. Hazardous materials include lead, asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls( PCBs), contaminated dust and combustible materials:
The risks arising from potential exposure to hazardous materials must be managed in accordance with the WHS Regulations.
For hazardous chemicals, exposure standards must not be exceeded. These are set out in the Workplace Exposure Standards for Airborne Contaminants, and should also be listed in the manufacturer’ s Safety Data Sheet( SDS).
Before starting any demolition work, all areas of the workplace, including basements, cellars, vaults and waste dumps, should be examined to determine whether:
• there are any items which could be a fire and explosion risk
• any previous use of the site might cause a risk because of the nature of and / or decomposition of materials
• there are any toxic, radioactive or other hazardous chemicals present.
Any hazardous materials, including explosives, should be clearly identified. Information about a chemical’ s hazards and control measures can be obtained from the chemical’ s Safety Data Sheet( SDS) or the label of the chemical’ s container. If available, the workplace’ s former hazardous chemicals register or manifest should be referred to for determining the nature and location of previous hazardous chemical storage areas.
The person conducting a business or undertaking and / or the principal contractor at a demolition workplace should inform all workers and other persons at the workplace of the presence of hazardous chemicals, and the control measures for exposure and safe disposal. SDSs for hazardous chemicals must be readily available for reference.
16 CODE OF PRACTICE | DEMOLITION WORK