Changes to the regulation of work with crystalline silica substances
Safe Work Australia
If you process crystalline silica substances at your workplace using power tools or other machinery, you need to:
• Assess whether the processing is high risk, meaning it is likely to result in a risk to the health of someone at the workplace.
• If the processing is assessed as high risk, you must comply with additional requirements, including having a silica risk control plan and providing crystalline silica training to your workers.
• Use a combination of control measures to minimise the risk of exposure to silica dust as much as possible.
From 1 September:
• you must assess whether any permitted work with legacy engineered stone involves processing that is high risk, and
• if you assess the processing as high risk, you need to comply with additional requirements, including having a silica risk control plan and providing crystalline silica training to your workers.
You still need to minimise risk as much as possible when processing any legacy engineered stone.
You must also notify your state or territory WHS regulator that you are doing permitted work with legacy engineered stone.