Safe Work Australia (SWA) has released a Decision Regulation Impact statement about the proposed workplace exposure limits for nine key chemicals.
On 1 December this year most jurisdictions in Australia will transition to the Workplace exposure limits for airborne contaminants (WEL list). The changes include 177 substances that have their exposure limits reduced, 31 substances with limits for the first time, 40 substances with limits increased and 30 substances with limits removed (mostly to be categorised as no threshold carcinogens).
Excluded from this list were nine chemicals: benzene, chlorine, copper, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen dioxide, respirable crystalline silica (RCS) and titanium dioxide. WHS ministers requested that Safe Work Australia undertake a regulatory impact analysis of the proposed workplace exposure limits for these nine chemicals. In 2021 OHS/WHS Ministers requested further assessment in response to some employer groups claiming that evidence was not considered in the analysis and that the recommendation if adopted would result in significant regulatory burden.
As reported in SafetyNet, Unions, through the ACTU, joined five public health organisations, including the Cancer Council, to call on Work Health and Safety (WHS) Ministers across the country to lower exposure limits for nine hazardous chemicals.
The majority of work health and safety (WHS) ministers have responded to SWA’s Decision Regulation Impact Statement, but a majority in support of new workplace exposure levels for the nine chemicals has not been reached and a majority of ministers have requested further work. There will be no changes to the exposure limits for these nine chemicals from 1 December 2026.
The workplace exposure levels for the nine chemicals in the Decision Regulation Impact Statement will remain the same as their current workplace exposure standards (WES) levels when workplaces transition to the workplace exposure limits for airborne contaminants (WEL) list on 1 December 2026.
Employers are reminded that WELs are hard limits. There is no such thing as a safe level of exposure, and it does not change the statutory obligation on employers to reduce risk by limiting exposure so far as is reasonably practicable.
Employers and workers can visit SWA’s airborne contaminants hub for information and resources to help them prepare for when the workplace exposure limits come into effect.
Employers must monitor conditions in their workplace to ensure a safe workplace and compliance with WELs. OHS Reps’ VTHC Air Monitoring Checklist for Health & Safety Representatives assists HSRs through every step of the air monitoring process: before the monitoring, assessing whether monitoring was conducted properly, checking that the report meets the standard required for compliance purposes, ensuring results are communicated to all affected workers, and making sure recommendations are acted on with clear timelines and accountability.
If you want to learn more about air monitoring and the newest exposure standards, you can watch the recording of the webinar with Kate Cole, leading occupational hygienist specialising in workplace airborne hazards: Breathing easy: air monitoring & the new Workplace Exposure Limits.