Safe Work Australia's New Workplace Exposure Limits: What Minerals Producers Need to Know Before 1 December 2026
From 1 December 2026, Australia’s workplace exposure framework for airborne contaminants will change, with Workplace Exposure Limits (WEL) replacing the existing Workplace Exposure Standards (WES).
This is more than a terminology change. While most numerical limits remain unchanged, a significant subset has been reduced, restructured or replaced. New particle-size fractions, advisory notations and regulatory notes have also been introduced. For producers of ores, concentrates, tailings and mineral by-products, the change warrants a systematic review of the exposure information used across Safety Data Sheets and, where relevant, the occupational-hygiene controls that sit behind it.
Key dates
Until 30 November 2026, PCBUs must continue to comply with the current WES list.
From 1 December 2026, the WEL list will apply following its implementation into Commonwealth, state and territory WHS laws. The underlying duty remains: workers and other persons at the workplace must not be exposed above the applicable airborne exposure limit, and risks from airborne contaminants must still be eliminated or minimised so far as is reasonably practicable.
For mining operations, applicable state or territory mining safety legislation should also be considered alongside the WHS framework.
The nature of the changes
Terminology: "Workplace Exposure Standard" becomes "Workplace Exposure Limit", making clearer that these are levels not to be exceeded rather than recommended best-practice values.
Numeric values: many individual TWA, STEL and Peak Limit values have changed following the health-based review, although most entries remain numerically unchanged.
Structural changes: a number of substances previously described by dust, fume or broader material categories are now differentiated by inhalable or respirable particle-size fraction, where that better reflects the relevant health endpoint and exposure pathway.
Additions and removals: health-based limits for 31 airborne contaminants have been added to the WEL list. Separately, 33 non-threshold genotoxic carcinogens (NTGCs) have been removed from the numeric WEL list because a practical protective exposure level could not be assigned.
Notation changes: the former sensitiser notation, SEN, is separated into dermal sensitisation (DSEN) and respiratory sensitisation (RSEN). A new ototoxicity notation (OTO) identifies substances associated with hearing effects. The former carcinogenicity notation (CARC) has been removed from the WEL notation system; carcinogenic hazard information should instead be obtained from the SDS and Safe Work Australia's Hazardous Chemicals Information System.
New regulatory notes: the WEL list introduces additional notes identifying chemicals that may also be subject to Schedule 14 health-monitoring requirements or Schedule 10 prohibitions or restrictions under the model WHS Regulations. These notes make existing regulatory obligations easier to identify; they do not themselves create new health-monitoring or SDS requirements.
Non-threshold genotoxic carcinogens
For the 33 identified NTGCs, a numeric WEL will no longer apply from 1 December 2026.
That does not mean the risk has disappeared. Where these substances are present, the general WHS obligation to eliminate or minimise exposure so far as is reasonably practicable remains, including substitution and exposure controls where relevant. Schedule 10 and Schedule 14 requirements may also continue to apply to individual substances.
For minerals producers, this is particularly relevant where NTGCs occur in process materials, additives or by-products rather than simply as major mineral constituents.
What this means across the minerals sector
The practical impact depends heavily on the mineralogy and composition of the material. A WEL review therefore needs to start with what is actually present in the ore, concentrate, tailings or product, not simply with the substances that happened to appear in the previous SDS.
The examples below highlight a selection of minerals, metals and associated constituents with changes relevant to the minerals sector. They are not exhaustive; other substances present in a particular material may also have revised limits, particle-fraction requirements, notations or regulatory notes under the new WEL framework.
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The existing Arsenic, soluble compounds (as As) WES of 0.05 mg/m³ is replaced by the broader Arsenic and compounds (except arsine) entry at 0.01 mg/m³.
This is both a fivefold numerical reduction and a widening of scope beyond soluble compounds. The new entry also carries an OTO notation and a Schedule 10-related regulatory note.
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Beryllium is one of the most significant numerical changes in the new WEL list.
The TWA falls from 0.002 to 0.00002 mg/m³—a 100-fold numerical reduction—and a new 0.0002 mg/m³ STEL is introduced.
The WEL also carries DSEN, RSEN and skin (Sk) notations, together with Schedule 10 and Schedule 14 notes.
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Cadmium and compounds reduce tenfold, from 0.01 to 0.001 mg/m³.
The new entry also carries the OTO notation, identifying ototoxicity as an additional consideration, as well as relevant regulatory notes.
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Cobalt metal dust and fume reduces from 0.05 to 0.02 mg/m³, under the broader new entry Cobalt (metal and inorganic compounds).
The new entry also carries DSEN and RSEN notations and regulatory notes relating to the WHS Regulations.
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This is particularly important for mineral SDSs.
Safe Work Australia's current WES interpretation guidance states that, where no substance-specific exposure standard has been assigned and a dust is inherently low in toxicity and free from toxic impurities, exposure should be maintained below 10 mg/m³ as inhalable dust, 8-hour TWA. The guidance commonly refers to these as "dusts not otherwise classified" or nuisance dusts.
That value should not be treated as a substitute for constituent-specific limits. Safe Work Australia expressly cautions that it is inappropriate where the dust contains substances capable of causing harm at lower concentrations. For example crystalline silica or other toxic mineral constituents.
The familiar 10 mg/m³ nuisance-dust value does not appear as a standalone limit in the new WEL list.
For producers, that means it should not simply be carried across from an existing SDS and relabelled as a WEL. Instead, the exposure limits in Section 8 should be reviewed against the actual composition of the material, with any applicable substance-specific WELs identified and used.
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The WEL for inorganic lead dusts and fumes remains 0.05 mg/m³.
However, the new entry carries the OTO notation and regulatory notes identifying relevant Schedule 10 and Schedule 14 provisions. Lead is therefore another example where an unchanged numerical limit does not necessarily mean the SDS entry should simply be carried forward untouched.
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Manganese undergoes substantial restructuring.
The new WEL entries for Manganese fume, dust and compounds (as Mn) are:
0.1 mg/m³ — inhalable fraction
0.02 mg/m³ — respirable fraction
The former manganese fume STEL is removed, and the previous dust/fume structure is replaced with inhalable and respirable particle fractions. Both new entries carry the OTO notation.
Numerically, the new respirable value is much lower than the former 1 mg/m³ dust value. However, this should not be presented as a simple like-for-like "50-times reduction", because the measurement basis and particle fraction have also changed.
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Molybdenum compounds also change materially.
Soluble molybdenum compounds reduce from 5 to 0.5 mg/m³.
Insoluble molybdenum compounds move from a single 10 mg/m³ limit to separate limits of:
10 mg/m³ inhalable
3 mg/m³ respirable
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Nickel undergoes significant restructuring.
Existing entries for nickel metal, nickel powder and nickel sulfide roasting dust and fume at 1 mg/m³ are replaced by Nickel, metal and insoluble compounds (as Ni) at 0.1 mg/m³—a tenfold reduction for those former entries.
However, this is not a tenfold reduction across all nickel compounds: some soluble nickel compounds were already subject to a 0.1 mg/m³ WES.
The new insoluble nickel entry carries a DSEN notation, while Nickel, soluble compounds (as Ni) at 0.1 mg/m³ carries both DSEN and RSEN. Both also carry relevant regulatory notes.
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The WEL for respirable crystalline silica—quartz, cristobalite, tridymite and tripoli—remains 0.05 mg/m³.
A proposed lower limit was considered, but for the 1 December 2026 transition RCS will retain the current numerical value.
However, the new WEL entries also carry notes linking crystalline silica to relevant Schedule 14 health-monitoring requirements and Schedule 10 restrictions or prohibitions.
For mineral products containing quartz or other crystalline silica, "the number hasn't changed" should not be interpreted as "nothing needs reviewing". Section 8 should still be checked for the correct respirable fraction, terminology, regulatory notes and control information.
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The existing separate zinc oxide dust and fume entries are consolidated into Zinc oxide (dust and fume) at:
2 mg/m³ TWA, with a 10 mg/m³ STEL.
The STEL is important: the change is not simply a reduction to a single 2 mg/m³ limit.
Preparing for the 1 December transition
Mineral producers/suppliers should review Section 8 of each SDS against the new WEL list before 1 December 2026, considering the actual composition, mineralogy, physical form and foreseeable handling of the material.
The review should check for:
Changed exposure limits, including TWA, STEL and Peak Limit values;
Changed particle fractions, including new inhalable or respirable limits;
New or revised notations, including DSEN, RSEN and OTO, and removal of the former CARC notation;
New regulatory notes, including references to Schedule 14 health monitoring and Schedule 10 restrictions under the model WHS Regulations;
Entries with unchanged numerical limits but changes to scope, notation or regulatory notes;
General or “nuisance” dust, where the previous 10 mg/m³ value is not a standalone limit in the new WEL list and should not simply be carried forward; and
Non-threshold genotoxic carcinogens (NTGCs), which no longer have a numerical WEL and require a different risk-management approach.
Where a limit has reduced, or the basis of the limit has changed, Section 8.2 exposure controls should also be reviewed to confirm that existing controls remain appropriate.
The examples in this insight are intended to highlight changes relevant to the minerals sector products and are not exhaustive. The requirements applicable to a particular material will depend on its composition, form, use and jurisdiction, and should be confirmed against the current WEL list, applicable WHS or mining legislation and, where necessary, occupational-hygiene advice.
Contact info@davorenenvironmental.com.au for assistance reviewing mineral SDS portfolios ahead of the 1 December 2026 transition.