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.