Nine Australian exposure-limit reductions will remain pending at the December transition

October 7, 2026

Australia’s proposed exposure-limit reductions for nine chemicals will not proceed at the December 1, 2026 transition. Safe Work Australia’s June 24 decision notice says a majority of WHS ministers did not support the proposed changes and requested further work.

The nine chemicals are benzene, chlorine, copper, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen dioxide, respirable crystalline silica and titanium dioxide. Their existing national-list values are carried into the transition described by the notice.

The nine-chemical decision record separates this outcome from the wider WEL change. It establishes no date or result for the further ministerial work.

Retain the stated silica basis

The checked future WEL list retains respirable crystalline silica at 0.05 mg/m³ as an eight-hour time-weighted average. That numerical basis remains separate from the stronger silica-processing duties and engineered-stone prohibition. An unchanged limit does not remove those other requirements.

APT’s practical interpretation is to check whether an internal transition plan still contains one of the proposed lower values. A planning value should remain labelled as such and be reconciled with the published decision before the regulatory register is changed.

This is a national policy and list outcome. A workplace’s governing WHS/OHS or mining regime still determines its legal application. The notice does not establish that every other entry in the December list remains unchanged.

For related developments, consult the industrial hygiene regulatory tracker.