In preparation for the transition from workplace exposure standards (WES) to workplace exposure limits (WEL) on 1 December 2026, Victorian employers can look to guidance developed by both Safe Work Australia (SWA) and WorkSafe Victoria.
This process commenced in 2018, led by SWA with the overarching aim of developing workplace exposure standards based on the highest quality, contemporary evidence and supported by a rigorous scientific approach.
Victorian workers, however, have been dealt a brutal blow with WorkSafe’s proposal to delay the commencement of the WEL for 15 key airborne contaminants until 1 December 2029 to provide businesses with additional time to comply with the new limits for those substances.
The 15 substances identified in WorkSafe’s proposal are associated with a range of serious health effects, including cancer, respiratory disease, neurological effects and damage to organs and tissues. Some can cause serious acute effects following short-term exposure, while others are associated with significant health risks following prolonged or repeated exposure.
The proposed delayed Victorian WEL substances are:
- bitumen fumes
- Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) measured as respirable elemental carbon
- Flour dust
- Grain dust
- Hydrogen fluoride
- Manganese fume
- Methyl bromide
- Nickel fume
- Nitric oxide
- Perchloroethylene
- Phosphine
- Portland cement
- Styrene monomer
- Sulphur dioxide
- Wood dust
Given that the WEL list was first published on 23 April 2024, business owners will have already had more than two and a half years to prepare for the 1 December 2026 change. Permitting an additional three years of exposure to these hazardous and dangerous substances exposes workers to preventable risk of serious illness and premature death.
AWU OHS Director Nick Blackford says “The AWU is in furious opposition to the proposed delay of the Workplace Exposure Limits (WEL) for 15 airborne contaminants until 1 December 2029. These substances are recognised carcinogens, neurotoxins and respiratory hazards. Safe Work Australia's recommended limits reflect known risks to human health. A three-year delay to safer limits is not a neutral administrative decision — it is a decision to knowingly permit continued exposure at levels the regulator's own technical advice says are unsafe.”
Mr Blackford goes on to say, “Given the seriousness of this proposal, the AWU requests that WorkSafe provide written justification, including the evidentiary basis on which the additional three years was determined necessary.”
Dr Gerry Ayers, Director of OHS&E and Worker Welfare at the CFMEU, expresses “great disappointment and extreme concern” over the proposal to delay the commencement of the WEL for the 15 airborne contaminants, and states that “the CFMEU strongly and vigorously opposes and rejects this WorkSafe proposal.” He says, “Allowing another 3 years of potential and foreseeable exposure to such acknowledged hazardous and dangerous chemicals/ products is absurd” and notes that the decision is entirely inconsistent with WorkSafe’s first principle of their Statement of Regulatory Intent which states that “without limiting our capacity to take action across our full suite of regulatory tools and powers, WorkSafe will always prioritise the safety of workers in workplaces.”
Shawn White, AMWU Health and Safety Coordinator, confirms that “the AMWU aligns with the CFMEUs position and rejects WorkSafe’s proposal of another 3 years. The proposal is not by definition ‘Reasonably Practicable’.”
Read more: Airborne contaminants | Safe Work Australia and Workplace exposure standards and limits | WorkSafe Victoria