News & Views

The Morrison Commonwealth is acting to protect Australian workers against the harmful effects of silica dust by reducing the workplace exposure standard (WES) for respirable crystalline silica from 1 July this year. Under the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 (Cth), the exposure standard will be halved from an eight-hour time-weighted average of 0.1 mg/m3 to 0.05 mg/m3.

The new standard was agreed by state and territory work health and safety (WHS) ministers following an extensive review of safe exposure levels conducted by Safe Work Australia. Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations, Christian Porter, said the change represented an important step forward in the fight against preventable dust diseases in the workplace. "The Government strongly supports these new standards, which will significantly reduce the incidence of silicosis and help to keep Australian workers, their families and the community safe," the Attorney-General said.

Click here to download the New Workplace Exposure Standard for Silica Dust media release.

Work Health and Safety Amendment (Silica Workplace Exposure Standards) Regulations 2020 

This regulation amends the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 to lower the enforceable exposure standard for crystalline silica, to align with the exposure standards for crystalline silica set out in the Workplace Exposure Standards for Airborne Contaminants, dated 16 December 2019 and published by Safe Work Australia (SWA). Click here to download a copy of the standard.