Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011

In force

Administered by

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

This item is authorised by the following titles:

Latest version

F2024C01083 (C27)

14 October 2024

The following codes of practice contained in this instrument are revoked by the Work Health and Safety Codes of Practice 2012 with effect from 19 December 2012: Part 2 (First Aid), Part 21 (Spray Painting), Part 22 (Abrasive Blasting) and Part 24 (Falls in Construction).

Table of contents

Chapter 1—Preliminary
- Part 1.1—Introductory matters
- 1 Name of Regulations
- 3 Authorising provisions
- 5 Definitions
- 6 Determination of safety management system
- 6A Meaning of corresponding WHS law
- 6B Meaning of court
- 6C Meaning of public authority
- 7 Meaning of person conducting a business or undertaking—persons excluded
- 8 Meaning of supply
- 9 Provisions linked to health and safety duties in Act
- Part 1.2—Application
- 11 Application of these Regulations
- 11A Application outside Australia
- 12 Assessment of risk in relation to a class of hazards, tasks, circumstances or things
- 12A Application of Act—ending of transitional period for non Commonwealth licensees
- Part 1.3—Incorporated documents
- 13 Documents incorporated as in force when incorporated
- 14 Inconsistencies between provisions
- 15 References to standards
Chapter 2—Representation and participation
- Part 2.1—Representation
- Part 2.2—Issue Resolution
- 22 Agreed procedure—minimum requirements
- 23 Default procedure
- Part 2.3—Cessation of Unsafe Work
- 24 Continuity of engagement of worker
- Part 2.4—Workplace Entry by WHS Entry Permit Holders
- 25 Training requirements for WHS entry permits
- 26 Form of WHS entry permit
- 27 Notice of entry—general
- 28 Additional requirements—entry under Division 2 of Part 7
- 29 Additional requirements—entry under section 120
- 30 Additional requirements—entry under section 121
- 31 Register of WHS entry permit holders
Chapter 3—General risk and workplace management
- Part 3.1—Managing risks to health and safety
- Part 3.2—General Workplace Management
Chapter 4—Hazardous work
- Part 4.1—Noise
  - 56 Meaning of exposure standard for noise
  - 57 Managing risk of hearing loss from noise
  - 58 Audiometric testing
  - 59 Duties of designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of plant
- Part 4.2—Hazardous Manual Tasks
  - 60 Managing risks to health and safety
  - 61 Duties of designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of plant or structures
- Part 4.3—Confined Spaces
  - Division 1—Preliminary
    - 62 Confined spaces to which this Part applies
    - 63 Application to emergency service workers
  - Division 2—Duties of designer, manufacturer, importer, supplier, installer and constructor of plant or structure
    - 64 Duty to eliminate or minimise risk
  - Division 3—Duties of person conducting business or undertaking
- Part 4.4—Falls
  - 78 Management of risk of fall
  - 79 Specific requirements to minimise risk of fall
  - 80 Emergency and rescue procedures
- Part 4.5—High Risk Work
  - Division 1—Licensing of high risk work
- Part 4.6—Demolition work
- 142 Notice of demolition work
- Part 4.7—General Electrical Safety in Workplaces and Energised Electrical Work
- Division 1—Preliminary
  - 144 Meaning of electrical equipment
  - 145 Meaning of electrical installation
  - 146 Meaning of electrical work
- Division 2—General risk management
  - 147 Risk management
- Division 3—Electrical equipment and electrical installations
  - 148 Electrical equipment and electrical installations to which this Division applies
  - 149 Unsafe electrical equipment
  - 150 Inspection and testing of electrical equipment
  - 151 Untested electrical equipment not to be used
- Division 4—Electrical work on energised electrical equipment
  - 152 Application of Division 4
  - 153 Persons conducting a business or undertaking to which this Division applies
  - 154 Electrical work on energised electrical equipment—prohibited
  - 155 Duty to determine whether equipment is energised
  - 156 De energised equipment must not be inadvertently re energised
  - 157 Electrical work on energised electrical equipment—when permitted
  - 158 Preliminary steps
  - 159 Unauthorised access to equipment being worked on
  - 160 Contact with equipment being worked on
  - 161 How the work is to be carried out
  - 162 Record keeping
- Division 5—Electrical equipment and installations and construction work—additional duties
  - 163 Duty of person conducting business or undertaking
- Division 6—Residual current devices
  - 164 Use of socket outlets in hostile operating environment
  - 165 Testing of residual current devices
- Division 7—Overhead and underground electric lines
  - 166 Duty of person conducting a business or undertaking
- Part 4.8—Diving Work
- Division 1—Preliminary
  - 167 Purpose of Part 4.8
- Division 2—General diving work—Fitness and competence of worker
  - 168 Person conducting business or undertaking must ensure fitness of workers
  - 169 Certificate of medical fitness
  - 170 Duty to keep certificate of medical fitness
  - 171 Competence of worker—general diving work—general qualifications
  - 171A Competence of worker—general diving work—additional knowledge and skill
  - 172 Competence of worker—incidental diving work
  - 173 Competence of worker—limited scientific diving work
  - 174 Competence of competent person supervising general diving work
  - 175 Evidence of competence—duty of person conducting business or undertaking
- Division 3—Managing risks—general diving work
  - 176 Management of risks to health and safety
  - 177 Appointment of competent person to supervise diving work
  - 178 Additional control—dive plan
  - 179 Dive plan must be complied with
  - 180 Additional control—dive safety log to be kept
  - 181 Use of dive safety log
  - 182 Record keeping
- Division 4—High risk diving work
  - 183 Duties of person conducting business or undertaking
  - 184 Duty of worker—competence
Chapter 5—Plant and structures
- Part 5.1—General duties for plant and structures
- Part 5.2—Additional duties relating to registered plant and plant designs
- Part 5.3—Registration of plant designs and items of plant
Chapter 6—Construction work
- Part 6.1—Preliminary
- Part 6.2—Duties of designer of structure and person who commissions construction work
- Part 6.3—Duties of person conducting business or undertaking
- Part 6.4—Additional duties of principal contractor
- Part 6.5—General construction induction training
Chapter 7—Hazardous chemicals
- Part 7.1—Hazardous chemicals
- Part 7.2—Lead
Chapter 8—Asbestos
- Part 8.1—Prohibitions and authorised conduct
  - 419 Work involving asbestos or ACM—prohibitions and exceptions
- Part 8.2—General duty
  - 420 Exposure to airborne asbestos at workplace
- Part 8.3—Management of asbestos and associated risks
- Part 8.4—Management of naturally occurring asbestos
- Part 8.5—Asbestos at the workplace
- Part 8.6—Demolition and refurbishment
- Part 8.7—Asbestos removal work
- Part 8.8—Asbestos removal requiring Class A licence
- Part 8.9—Asbestos related work
- Part 8.10—Licensing of asbestos removalists and asbestos assessors
Chapter 8A—Crystalline silica
- Part 8A.1—Preliminary
- Part 8A.2—Work involving engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs
- Part 8A.3—Regulator to be notified of particular processing of engineered stone
Chapter 9—Major hazard facilities
- Part 9.1—Preliminary
  - Division 1—Application and interpretation
  - Division 2—Requirement to be licensed
    - 535 A major hazard facility must be licensed
- Part 9.2—Determinations about Major Hazard Facilities
- Part 9.3—Duties of Operators of Determined Major Hazard Facilities
- Part 9.4—Licensed major hazard facilities—risk management
- Part 9.5—Consultation and Workers’ Safety role
  - 574 Safety role for workers
  - 575 Operator of major hazard facility must consult with workers
- Part 9.6—Duties of Workers at Licensed Major Hazard Facilities
  - 576 Duties
- Part 9.7—Licensing of major hazard facilities
Chapter 10—Mines
Chapter 11—General
- Part 11.1—Review of Decisions under these Regulations
- Part 11.2—Exemptions
- Part 11.3—Miscellaneous
Chapter 12—Transitional and saving provisions
- Part 4—Hazardous work
  - Division 4.1—Noise
  - Division 4.2—Hazardous manual tasks
- Part 5—Plant and structures
- Part 8A—Engineered stone, porcelain products and sintered stone
  - Division 8A.2—Work involving engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs
    - 698A Particular work involving engineered stone—exception if carried out under pre 2024 contract
    - 698B Application—acquisition of property
- Part 9—Major hazard facilities
  - Division 9.7—Licensing of major hazard facilities
    - 756 Existing major hazard facility
    - 757 Existing licensed major hazard facility
- Part 11—General
  - Division 11.3—Miscellaneous
    - 758 Using or sharing information for administration or enforcement of Acts
- Part 12—Other transitional matters
  - Division 1—Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals
    - 759 Introductory period for GHS
  - Division 3—Codes of practice
    - 761 Preserved codes of practice
Schedule 1—Revocation of regulations
Schedule 2—Fees
- 1 Purpose of this Schedule
Schedule 3—High risk work licences and classes of high risk work
- 1 Boom type elevating work platform
Schedule 4—High risk work licences—competency requirements
- 1 Purpose of this Schedule
Schedule 5—Registration of plant and plant designs
- Part 1—Plant requiring registration of design
  - 1 Items of plant requiring registration of design
  - 2 Exceptions
- Part 2—Items of plant requiring registration
  - 3 Items of plant requiring registration
  - 4 Exceptions
Schedule 6—Classification of mixtures
- 1 Purpose of this Schedule
- 2 Classification of mixtures
Schedule 7—Safety data sheets
- 1 Safety data sheets—content
- 2 Safety data sheets—research chemical, waste product or sample for analysis
Schedule 8—Disclosure of ingredients in safety data sheet
- 1 Purpose of this Schedule
- 2 Identity of ingredients to be disclosed
- 3 Generic names used to disclose identity of ingredients
- 4 Disclosing proportions of ingredients
Schedule 9—Classification, packaging and labelling requirements
- Part 1—Correct classification
  - 1 Correct classification of a substance, mixture or article
- Part 2—Correct packing
  - 2 Correctly packing hazardous chemicals
- Part 3—Correct labelling
Schedule 10—Prohibited carcinogens, restricted carcinogens and restricted hazardous chemicals
Schedule 11—Placard and manifest quantities
- 1 Determination of classification of flammable liquids
Schedule 12—Manifest requirements
- 1 Manifest—general information
- 2 Manifest—bulk storage and containers
- 3 Manifest—identification of hazardous chemical
- 4 Manifest—storage area for packaged hazardous chemicals
- 5 Manifest—hazardous chemicals being manufactured
- 6 Manifest—hazardous chemicals in transit
- 7 Manifest—plan of workplace
Schedule 13—Placard requirements
- 1 Displaying placards
- 2 Maintaining placards
- 3 Outer warning placards—requirements
- 4 Placards for particular hazardous chemicals stored in bulk
- 5 Placards for unstable explosives, organic peroxides type A or self reactive substances type A stored in bulk
- 6 Placards for packaged Schedule 11 hazardous chemicals (other than flammable liquids category 4) and IBCs
- 7 Placards for flammable liquids category 4 packaged or in bulk
Schedule 14—Requirements for health monitoring
Schedule 15—Hazardous chemicals at major hazard facilities (and their threshold quantity)
- 1 Definitions
- 2 Relevant hazardous chemicals
- 3 Threshold quantity of one hazardous chemical
- 4 Threshold quantity of more than one hazardous chemical
- 5 How table 15.1 must be used
- 6 How table 15.2 must be used
Schedule 16—Matters to be included in emergency plan for major hazard facility
- 1 Site and hazard detail
- 2 Command structure and site personnel
- 3 Notifications
- 4 Resources and equipment
- 5 Procedures
Schedule 17—Additional matters to be included in safety management system of major hazard facility
- 1 Safety policy and safety objectives
- 2 Organisation and personnel
- 3 Operational controls
- 4 Duties of operators
- 5 Management of change
- 6 Principles and standards
- 7 Performance monitoring
- 8 Audit
Schedule 18—Additional matters to be included in safety case for a major hazard facility
- Part 1—Facility description
  - 1 The facility
  - 2 The surrounding area
- Part 2—Safety information
- Endnotes

Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011

Legislation text