Work Health and Safety Amendment (Silica Workplace Exposure Standards) Regulations 2020

I, General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.

Dated 25 June 2020

David Hurley

Governor‑General

By His Excellency’s Command

Christian Porter

Minister for Industrial Relations

Contents

1 Name

2 Commencement

3 Authority

4 Schedules

Schedule 1—Amendments

Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011

1  Name

  This instrument is the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Silica Workplace Exposure Standards) Regulations 2020.

2  Commencement

 (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.

 (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.

3  Authority

  This instrument is made under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

4  Schedules

  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.

Schedule 1—Amendments

Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011

1  Subregulation 5(1)

Insert:

crystalline silica means any of the following chemicals:

 (a) cristobalite (respirable dust);

 (b) quartz (respirable dust);

 (c) tridymite (respirable dust);

 (d) tripoli (respirable dust).

2  Subregulation 5(1) (definition of exposure standard)

Repeal the definition, substitute:

exposure standard, except in Part 4.1, means:

 (a) for a chemical that is crystalline silica—the exposure standard for the chemical that is set out in the document titled Workplace Exposure Standards for Airborne Contaminants, dated 16 December 2019 and published by Safe Work Australia; or

 (b) otherwise—an exposure standard set out in the document titled Workplace Exposure Standards for Airborne Contaminants, dated 22 December 2011 and published by Safe Work Australia.

Note: The documents referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) could in 2020 be viewed on Safe Work Australia’s website (www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au).