WorkSafe & OHS Compliance — Office Cleaning Safety
How Golden Star meets WorkSafe Victoria and OHS compliance requirements for commercial office cleaning in Melbourne — appropriate PPE for chemical handling, documented Safe Work Method Statements for height and specialist work, Safety Data Sheets maintained for all chemicals, $20M public liability insurance, and National Police Checks for all staff. Compliance documentation available on request for all programs.
Office Cleaning Safety & Compliance — What It Means for Your Building
Golden Star meets all WorkSafe Victoria and OHS compliance requirements for commercial office cleaning — appropriate PPE for chemical handling, documented SWMS for height and hazardous tasks, SDS maintained for all chemicals, $20M public liability insurance, and National Police Checks for all staff. Written compliance documentation is provided to new clients on request and is maintained throughout the program.
When a commercial cleaning company operates in your office building, their safety and compliance obligations are not solely their own — building managers, facilities managers, and tenant occupiers share a duty of care obligation under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Vic) to ensure that contractors working in or on their premises are operating safely and in compliance with applicable standards. Engaging a cleaning company without confirming their WorkSafe compliance and insurance status exposes the building owner, strata body corporate, and tenant occupier to shared liability under the WHS Act if a cleaning staff incident occurs on the premises — regardless of whether the incident results from the cleaning company's own negligence or from a site condition within the building owner's control.
The compliance documentation that Golden Star provides is not produced on request as a one-time effort — it is maintained as live documentation throughout the program. Insurance certificates are current and renewed annually. Police check status is maintained for all active staff. SDS are updated when product formulations change. SWMS are reviewed when work scope or site conditions change. The documentation provided at onboarding reflects the current compliance status, not a historical snapshot.
For Melbourne building managers, strata managers, and corporate facilities teams who maintain contractor compliance registers — a common requirement for ISO 14001, ISO 45001, or NABERS building compliance — Golden Star's compliance documentation package is structured to populate those registers directly, without requiring the facilities manager to reformat or chase additional documentation from the cleaning provider.
WorkSafe & OHS Compliance — Each Element Explained
Each element of Golden Star's WorkSafe and OHS compliance framework is explained below — what it covers, why it matters for the building and tenant, and what documentation is available. All items can be provided in a single compliance package on request at program commencement.
Public Liability Insurance — $20 Million
Golden Star holds $20 million public liability insurance covering property damage, personal injury, and third-party claims arising from cleaning operations on client sites. A current Certificate of Currency is provided to all new clients and is available on request at any time during the program. The certificate is issued by the insurer in the standard format accepted by Melbourne building management bodies, strata managers, and corporate facilities management systems. Insurance is renewed annually — the current certificate is always available.
CoC available immediatelyNational Police Checks — All Staff
Every cleaning staff member undergoes a National Police Check before their first assignment to any client site. Written confirmation of the police check policy is provided to all new clients. For environments requiring individual police check certificates for named staff — high-security government facilities, sensitive corporate environments, medical offices, or childcare-adjacent tenancies — individual certificates can be provided for the specific staff assigned to the site during onboarding. Police check status is maintained for all active staff throughout the program.
Individual certs availableWorkSafe Victoria PPE Compliance
All cleaning operations are conducted with appropriate personal protective equipment for the task and chemicals involved. Chemical handling tasks — diluting concentrates, applying disinfectants, using degreasers — use chemical-resistant gloves and, where required by the product SDS, eye protection and apron. Wet floor and slip-hazard situations use appropriate footwear with slip resistance. All PPE requirements are identified in the site-specific work brief and confirmed during staff induction before the program commences.
WorkSafe compliantSafe Work Method Statements (SWMS)
Safe Work Method Statements are prepared for all cleaning tasks involving high-risk activities under WorkSafe Victoria guidelines — ladder-based work including gutter cleaning and high internal window cleaning, height access for exterior facade cleaning, and application of hazardous chemicals in confined or enclosed spaces. The SWMS identifies the specific hazards, the risk control measures applied, and the emergency procedures for each identified risk. SWMS are provided to facilities managers and building management on request and are updated when task scope or site conditions change.
Task-specific SWMSSafety Data Sheets — All Chemicals
Safety Data Sheets (SDS) are maintained for every chemical product in use at every client site. Under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations 2017, SDS must be accessible to workers using hazardous chemicals and to emergency services if required. Golden Star maintains a current SDS register for each client site, updated when products change or formulations are revised. A complete chemical register with associated SDS is provided to facilities managers on request, in the format required for building chemical management records and WHS compliance documentation.
Full SDS register availableStaff Induction & Safety Training
All cleaning staff receive task-specific safety training and site induction before commencing work at any new client location. Induction covers site-specific hazards, emergency procedures, access and evacuation routes, chemical storage requirements, and any site-specific safety requirements identified by building management. Safety training covers correct product handling, PPE use, manual handling techniques for cleaning equipment, and incident reporting procedures. Training records are maintained and available on request.
Records maintainedDocumentation Available on Request
All compliance documentation listed below is available from Golden Star on request — at program commencement, during the program, or for annual contractor register updates. Most documents are provided within 24 hours of request.
| Document | Available | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Currency — $20M PLI | ✓ Yes | Same day |
| Police check policy confirmation | ✓ Yes | Same day |
| Individual staff police check certs | ✓ Yes | On request at onboarding |
| SDS for all site chemicals | ✓ Yes | Within 24 hrs |
| Site-specific SWMS | ✓ Yes | Before first clean |
| Written scope of work | ✓ Yes | With quote |
| Staff induction records | ✓ Yes | Within 5 business days |
| Chemical register for building | ✓ Yes | Within 5 business days |
Building Owner & Facilities Manager OHS Obligations
Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Vic), businesses and building owners who engage contractors have a duty to ensure the health and safety of those contractors while they work on their premises, so far as is reasonably practicable. This duty applies to cleaning contractors working in commercial office buildings — the building owner and tenant share a duty of care alongside the cleaning company itself.
In practical terms, this means that building managers and facilities managers engaging a cleaning company should confirm, before commencement: that the cleaning company holds appropriate public liability insurance; that their staff hold relevant police checks where required by the site security classification; that the company can produce SDS for all chemicals used on-site; and that any high-risk tasks are covered by documented SWMS before those tasks commence.
Golden Star's compliance documentation package is specifically structured to satisfy these due diligence obligations efficiently and completely — providing all required documentation in a single request response rather than requiring the facilities manager to separately source each item from different internal contacts within the cleaning company.
For buildings with a contractor management system — a common feature in larger commercial buildings and strata complexes — Golden Star's documentation can be submitted directly to the contractor management portal in the format required, reducing the administrative burden on the facilities manager and ensuring the contractor register is current from the first day of the program.
Height Safety for Office Cleaning in Melbourne
A significant proportion of workplace injuries in the commercial cleaning industry in Australia involve falls from height — ladder slips during window and gutter cleaning, overreach from step platforms, and unstable ladder placement on hard commercial flooring. WorkSafe Victoria's guidance on height safety for cleaning work is specific and detailed: ladders used for cleaning tasks above 2 metres require a risk assessment, and tasks where a fall from height could cause serious injury require a documented SWMS with identified controls before the work commences.
For Melbourne commercial office buildings, the most common height-related cleaning tasks are: internal high window cleaning above reachable height from the floor or a step stool; gutter cleaning on single and double-storey commercial buildings accessed by extension ladder; and exterior facade cleaning of ground-level and accessible building surfaces. Each of these tasks is assessed before commencement, and SWMS documentation confirming the access method, fall protection controls, and emergency procedures is prepared and maintained for the duration of the task program.
Cleaning staff performing height work hold current height safety awareness training, and the specific access method and equipment used for each task is confirmed in the site risk assessment and SWMS before the first clean. For any height task where the risk assessment identifies that the proposed access method creates an unacceptable risk level, an alternative access method — extended pole systems, water-fed pole for external windows, or scaffolding for complex access situations — is substituted and the SWMS updated accordingly.
Building managers and facilities managers who include height safety confirmation as a standard element of their contractor compliance requirements — common in larger commercial buildings and those managed by professional facilities management companies — receive Golden Star's height task risk assessments and SWMS as part of the standard compliance documentation package provided at program commencement.
WorkSafe & OHS Compliance — Questions Answered
For compliance documentation, insurance certificates, or to discuss specific OHS requirements for your building, call 0484 042 336.
Request Compliance Documentation or Book a Site Inspection
For a Certificate of Currency, SWMS, SDS register, or full compliance package for your contractor register — call 0484 042 336. All documentation provided within 24 hours. Police-checked staff. $20M insured. WorkSafe Victoria compliant. Free site inspection and written quote across all Melbourne suburbs.