Product Overview

Summary: This Document Control and Record Keeping Standard Operating Procedure sets out a clear, compliant framework for creating, approving, storing and maintaining business and WHS records across your organisation. It helps Australian businesses demonstrate due diligence, pass audits with confidence, and ensure that critical information is accurate, secure and easy to find when it’s needed most.

Effective document control and record keeping are core requirements under Australian WHS and quality management frameworks, yet they are often the weakest link when regulators or clients come knocking. This Standard Operating Procedure provides a practical, step-by-step system for managing all controlled documents and records across your business – from WHS procedures and risk assessments, to training records, maintenance logs, incident reports and contracts. It defines how documents are created, reviewed, approved, issued, updated, stored, archived and disposed of, ensuring a single source of truth and eliminating the confusion of multiple, conflicting versions.

For Australian organisations working under WHS legislation, ISO standards or client-imposed compliance requirements, this SOP closes the gap between “what should happen” and “what actually happens” on site and in the office. It helps you demonstrate due diligence during regulator inspections, tender pre-qualifications and certification audits by ensuring that required records are complete, current, and retrievable. By embedding clear responsibilities, naming conventions, retention rules and access controls, this procedure reduces administrative risk, protects sensitive information, and saves time otherwise wasted searching for lost or outdated documents.

Whether you operate in construction, manufacturing, professional services, healthcare, local government or not‑for‑profit, this SOP gives you a scalable, repeatable framework that can be adapted to both paper-based and digital systems, including common document management platforms and shared drives.

Key Benefits

• Ensure consistent creation, review and approval of all controlled documents, reducing errors and conflicting information across the business.
• Demonstrate compliance with WHS, privacy and quality obligations by maintaining complete, traceable and auditable records.
• Streamline audits, regulator inspections and client pre-qualifications by making critical documents and records easy to locate and verify.
• Reduce business risk associated with lost, outdated or unauthorised documents through clear version control and access permissions.
• Support smoother onboarding and training by giving workers reliable, up-to-date procedures and forms in a single, controlled system.

Who is this for?

• WHS Managers
• Quality Managers
• Compliance Officers
• Operations Managers
• HR Managers
• Practice Managers (Healthcare and Allied Health)
• Engineering Managers
• Project Managers
• Records and Information Managers
• Business Owners and Directors
• Office Managers
• ISO Compliance Coordinators

Included Sections

• 1.0 Purpose and Scope
• 2.0 Definitions and Terminology
• 3.0 Roles and Responsibilities for Document Control
• 4.0 Types of Documents and Records Covered
• 5.0 Document Creation, Review and Approval Process
• 6.0 Document Identification, Coding and Naming Conventions
• 7.0 Version Control and Change Management
• 8.0 Distribution, Access Control and Use of Controlled Documents
• 9.0 Record Creation, Completion and Authorisation Requirements
• 10.0 Storage, Security and Backup of Records (Paper and Electronic)
• 11.0 Retention Periods, Archiving and Disposal of Records
• 12.0 Control of Obsolete Documents and Superseded Versions
• 13.0 Integration with WHS, Quality and Information Security Systems
• 14.0 Audit, Monitoring and Continuous Improvement of Document Control
• 15.0 Training and Communication Requirements
• 16.0 Forms, Templates and Registers (Document Register, Record Register, Amendment Log)

Legislation & References

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth and harmonised state/territory Acts) – duty to keep records and demonstrate due diligence
• Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 – specific record keeping requirements (e.g. training, risk assessments, health monitoring, plant and equipment)
• Safe Work Australia – various Codes of Practice (e.g. How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks, Work Health and Safety Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination) – evidence and documentation expectations
• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) – handling of personal and health information in records
• AS ISO 9001:2016 Quality management systems – Requirements (documented information and control of records)
• AS ISO 45001:2018 Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements with guidance for use (documented information and record control)
• AS ISO/IEC 27001:2023 Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection – Information security management systems (for organisations managing sensitive or confidential records)