Workplace exposure limits are changing. Here’s what that actually means
There is a major compliance change coming. Are you across it? Workplace exposure limits are changing. If your workplace uses chemicals, creates dust, produces fumes, or has gases or vapours workers may breathe in, this needs to be on your radar. The question is no longer just “do we have the SDS?” It is: do we know what workers are actually exposed to, and are our controls keeping them below the relevant limit? Check out the article to see what this means for your workplace.
Australia is changing the way workplace exposure limits are managed for chemicals and other substances that can become airborne at work. This applies to things workers may breathe in, like dusts, fumes, gases, vapours and mists.
From 1 December 2026, the current Workplace Exposure Standards, or WES, will be replaced by Workplace Exposure Limits, or WEL. The current WES list continues to apply until then. Safe Work Australia has said the change is intended to make it clearer that these values are limits, not general guidance or soft targets.
Basically, a WEL is the upper limit for how much of a substance a worker can be exposed to in the air.
The limit is the ceiling, not the goal.
Being under the limit does not automatically mean the risk is well controlled. Businesses still need to eliminate or minimise exposure so far as is reasonably practicable.
Businesses need to know what substances workers may be exposed to, where that exposure can happen, and whether existing controls are actually working.
That includes routine work, but also higher risk tasks like maintenance, breakdowns, cleaning, shutdowns, confined space work, cutting, grinding, welding and chemical changeovers.
What is changing?
From 1 December 2026, the current WES list will be replaced by the new WEL list.
This is not just a paperwork change. This is a substantial compliance change. Exposure limits need to be treated as upper limits, and businesses need to be able to show that exposure is being controlled below them.
If your workplace uses chemicals, creates dust, produces fumes, or has gases or vapours workers may breathe in, you need to know what the relevant limit is and whether your controls are keeping exposure below it.
You need to understand what is actually happening in the work, not just what is listed in the SDS folder.
What is not changing?
There are 9 substances being held out of the initial WEL changes following consultation and ministerial review.
Those substances are benzene, chlorine, copper, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen dioxide, respirable crystalline silica and titanium dioxide.
For these 9 substances, the existing exposure levels will carry across into the new WEL list on 1 December 2026.
The proposed new limits have been delayed but that does not mean they have disappeared from the regulator’s agenda.
Some of these substances are deeply embedded in essential industries and critical infrastructure. Chlorine is a good example. It is built into water treatment, disinfection systems and public health protection. Changing an exposure limit is not as simple as writing a lower number into a table. In some industries, it can seriously affect the ability to provide essential services.
In some operations, a lower limit could require engineering redesign, changed processes, new monitoring methods, different maintenance practices, alternative technologies, changes to emergency arrangements, or major capital work. It may also create other operational, service delivery or public health risks that need to be properly considered.
So, have we got a free pass if we have these.
Definitely not.
This is a reprieve, not a get out of jail free card. We are on notice. We are on notice. Use the time well to review your operations and eliminate or minimise exposure to these substances, because further changes are likely to come.
What does this mean for you?
If your business uses, stores, generates or disturbs substances that can become airborne contaminants, now is the time to check what applies.
Do not wait until late 2026.
Start with the basics:
Know what substances are in your workplace.
Check whether they have a current WES or future WEL.
Review whether exposure could occur during normal work, maintenance, breakdowns or non routine tasks.
Check whether your controls are actually managing the exposure risk.
Confirm whether air monitoring or health monitoring is required.
Make sure workers understand the risk, not just the procedure.
Need more info?
Check out Safe Work Australia’s airborne contaminants and workplace exposure limits resources.
Need some help?
We can help you work out what applies in your workplace, where exposure could occur, and whether your controls are doing what they need to do.
