Shared Workplaces and Master Plans: A Practical Australian Compliance Guide

How owners, managers, tenants and contractors can coordinate safety across multi-tenant offices, shopping complexes and industrial parks

Shared workplaces bring people, businesses and operations together—but they also create overlapping responsibilities. A building owner may control common areas, a facility manager may oversee contractors, tenants may manage their own workers, and suppliers may introduce temporary risks. When responsibilities are unclear, hazards may not be identified.

A coordinated master plan turns separate arrangements into one practical framework. It does not remove any organisation’s legal duties. Instead, it helps everyone understand the site, share information, assign actions and respond consistently. This article provides a high-level overview and a step-by-step approach for Australian shared workplaces.

The compliance foundation: duties overlap

Most Australian jurisdictions use laws based on the model work health and safety framework. Always confirm the legislation, regulations, codes and regulator guidance that apply where the workplace is located.

Under the model framework, a person conducting a business or undertaking must consult, cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders who share responsibility for the same health and safety matter, so far as is reasonably practicable. This can include owners, managers, tenants, employers, labour-hire providers, contractors and service providers. A contract can allocate tasks, but it cannot simply transfer away a legal duty.

Consultation also extends to workers who are—or are likely to be—directly affected by a health and safety matter. Effective consultation means sharing relevant information, giving people a reasonable opportunity to contribute, considering their views before decisions are made and communicating the outcome.

What a shared-workplace master plan should do

The master plan should be a usable coordination document—not a folder of unrelated policies. It should describe how the site operates, identify interfaces between duty holders and establish a repeatable process for controlling shared risks. The level of detail should reflect the workplace’s size, complexity, workforce, public access and risk profile.

1. Map the workplace and every duty holder

Start with a site map and stakeholder register. Record who occupies, owns, manages, maintains or works in each space. Include common areas, loading docks, plant rooms, car parks, roofs, storage areas and public zones. Note who controls access, utilities, building systems and contractor engagement. Review the register whenever a tenancy, contractor or operating arrangement changes.

2. Build one shared risk picture

Assess both local hazards and interactions between businesses. Typical interfaces include vehicle and pedestrian movements, deliveries, contractor works, hazardous chemicals, asbestos information, isolation of services, security, air quality, noise, psychosocial hazards and simultaneous high-risk work. Record existing controls, gaps, accountable parties and review dates in a shared risk register.

3. Define roles without creating false certainty

Use a responsibility matrix to identify who leads, who supports, who must be consulted and who must be informed. Cover routine controls and foreseeable events such as maintenance shutdowns, tenant fit outs, incidents and emergencies. Avoid describing one party as the sole owner of a risk where several parties retain duties; instead, show how their actions connect.

4. Set consultation and communication routines

Choose arrangements that suit the site: regular coordination meetings, tenant forums, health and safety committees, pre-start briefings, permit-to-work systems and digital alerts. Establish how urgent hazards are escalated, how after-hours contacts are maintained and how workers, contractors and visitors receive information in accessible formats.

5. Integrate emergency planning

Tailor the emergency plan to the site, covering response, evacuation, emergency services, medical assistance, communication, testing and training. Across shared workplaces, align alarms, wardens, assembly areas, accessibility support, visitor procedures, contacts and recovery. Test the whole-site response, not just individual tenant procedures.

AS 3745–2010, Planning for emergencies in facilities, provides a framework for emergency planning. The Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) oversees the plan, while the Emergency Control Organisation (ECO) manages the facility’s emergency response.

EPC meetings: Meet often enough to keep plans, procedures, training and exercises current. Record attendance, decisions, actions, due dates and follow-up. Membership should reflect relevant owners, managers, tenants and other stakeholders.

ECO teams: The trained ECO directs occupants until emergency services take control, where applicable. Its structure may include chief and deputy wardens, a communications officer, and floor or area wardens. Keep appointments, identification, training, exercises and coverage current.

6. Control change before work begins

Create a change process for refurbishments, new equipment, altered traffic routes, events, seasonal peaks and new ways of working. Require advance notice, consultation, risk review and approval where appropriate. Fit-outs and shutdowns deserve particular attention because they often affect fire systems, exits, utilities, noise, dust and public access.

7. Verify, review and improve

Track more than paperwork. Use inspections, corrective-action close-out, drill observations, incident trends, contractor checks and worker feedback to test whether arrangements work in practice. Review the master plan after incidents, exercises, major changes and at a scheduled interval. Record decisions and communicate revisions to affected parties.

A quick coordination checklist

• Do we know every organisation and person with influence or control over shared risks?
• Are common-area and cross-boundary hazards included in one current risk picture?
• Are responsibilities, contacts, escalation paths and time frames documented?
• Do workers and their representatives have meaningful opportunities to contribute?
• Are contractors inducted into both site-wide and task-specific arrangements?
• Are emergency procedures aligned, accessible, tested and communicated?
• Do changes trigger consultation and risk review before implementation?
• Can we show that actions were completed and controls remain effective?

Common mistakes to avoid

Common failures include assuming the landlord or facility manager will handle everything, relying on lease clauses without checking implementation, keeping separate emergency plans that conflict, consulting only after decisions are made and allowing action items to remain open without verification. Another warning sign is a master plan that names risks but does not identify decisions, owners, deadlines or evidence of completion.

Make coordination part of everyday management

The strongest shared workplaces treat coordination as an operating system, not an annual compliance exercise. Start with the people who control or influence the site, build a shared view of risk and agree how information, actions and changes will be managed. Keep the framework proportionate, visible and easy to update.

Reference: AS 3745–2010, Planning for emergencies in facilities, including Amendment No. 1 (2014) and Amendment No. 2 (2018). Organisations should confirm they are using the current edition and applicable amendments.

Because legal requirements and local arrangements differ, this article is general information rather than legal advice. Check the current requirements and guidance issued by the work health and safety regulator in the relevant state or territory and obtain professional advice for complex or high-risk sites.