Silica Dust Work SWMS

Silica dust work covers any construction or trade activity that generates respirable crystalline silica (RCS) — the fine, invisible dust released when materials containing crystalline silica are mechanically disturbed. Crystalline silica is present in concrete, brick, block, mortar, stone, tile, terrazzo, engineered stone and many other common materials, often at 20 per cent or more by mass and, in the case of engineered stone, above 90 per cent. Cutting, grinding, drilling, polishing, crushing, demolishing and even cleaning up these materials releases RCS, and the respirable fraction is small enough to bypass the body's defences and lodge deep in the lung, where it causes silicosis, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and, in the most heavily exposed workers, rapidly progressive and fatal disease. This document is the overarching silica SWMS that sets out the duties, exposure standard and control framework that apply across all silica-generating tasks, and it works alongside the task-specific silica method statements for cutting, drilling, grinding, demolition, tunnelling and engineered stone work.

The controlling figure is the workplace exposure standard for RCS: 0.05 mg/m3 as an eight-hour time-weighted average, which must not be exceeded, and which is reframed as a workplace exposure limit from 1 December 2026 with a reinforced duty to keep exposure as low as reasonably practicable below it. Since 1 September 2024 the model Work Health and Safety Regulations apply strengthened controls to work with any material containing at least 1 per cent crystalline silica. Processing of a crystalline silica substance is high risk where it is reasonably likely to result in a risk to health, the practical trigger being airborne RCS above half the exposure standard generated on a regular basis. Where work is high-risk processing, the duty holder must prepare a silica risk control plan before the work starts, train exposed workers in silica health risks and controls, conduct air monitoring, and provide health monitoring through a registered medical practitioner. This document is written on the basis that silica risk is controlled through the hierarchy of controls — elimination and substitution first, then engineering controls such as water suppression and on-tool extraction, then administrative controls, with respiratory protection as the residual measure.

Hazards identified

9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.

1. 1Elimination: design out silica-generating work where reasonably practicable — use cast-in penetrations, pre-cut and modular materials, pre-formed joints and off-site fabrication so the dust is never created on site.
2. 2Substitution: where work must be done, select lower-silica materials and lower-dust methods, and choose materials outside prohibition where engineered stone would otherwise be used.
3. 3Engineering: water suppression delivered to the cutting, drilling or grinding interface at adequate flow, or on-tool dust extraction through an H-class (HEPA) vacuum, as the primary controls that keep airborne RCS below the exposure standard.
4. 4Engineering: forced or local exhaust ventilation in enclosed, indoor and confined work areas to prevent RCS accumulating, and area isolation to protect other workers.
5. 5Administrative: assess each silica task for risk, and where it is high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance, prepare a silica risk control plan before the work starts and make it available at the workplace.
6. 6Administrative: train all workers who may be exposed to RCS in the health risks, the exposure standard, the controls and their correct use, and keep training records.
7. 7Administrative: conduct air monitoring to validate that controls hold below the exposure standard wherever there is uncertainty, and notify the regulator of any result that exceeds the standard within the prescribed period.
8. 8Administrative: provide health monitoring through a registered medical practitioner — including respiratory function testing and low-dose high-resolution chest CT as advised — to workers carrying out high-risk silica work, and retain records confidentially for at least 30 years.
9. 9Administrative: control access to silica work areas, sequence work to keep other trades out of the dust, and where engineered stone or other very high-silica material is involved, apply the relevant prohibition, notification and decontamination requirements.
10. 10PPE: properly fit-tested respiratory protection appropriate to the residual exposure — at minimum a P2 half-face respirator, with powered air-purifying respirators for sustained or higher-exposure work and supplied air where the atmosphere may be oxygen-deficient — selected and maintained per AS/NZS 1715 and AS/NZS 1716.
11. 11PPE: hearing protection where powered tools are used, eye protection to AS/NZS 1337.1, gloves, and Class I or Class II safety footwear with protective toecap to AS/NZS 2210.3.
12. 12Administrative: all workers must hold a valid White Card (General Construction Induction Training, CPCCWHS1001) before entering any construction workplace.
13. 13Administrative: clean up with H-class vacuuming or wet methods only — never dry sweep or use compressed air, which re-suspends settled RCS — and decontaminate plant, tools and workers to prevent take-home exposure.
14. 14Administrative: review and update this SWMS and the task-specific silica method statements whenever the work scope changes, after any incident or near miss, when a worker or health and safety representative raises a concern, when new hazards are identified, or at minimum every 12 months.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Silica Work triggered

Worked example

A principal contractor is running a commercial fit-out that involves several silica-generating activities at once: concrete cutting for service penetrations, brick and block cutting for a feature wall, floor grinding before polishing, and the removal of an existing engineered stone benchtop. Rather than treat these in isolation, the contractor uses this overarching silica SWMS to establish a single control framework, then applies the task-specific silica method statements for each activity. A silica risk control plan is prepared covering each high-risk processing activity, the specific controls for each, and how exposure is monitored. Across the tasks, water suppression and on-tool H-class extraction are used as the primary engineering controls, the work areas are isolated from each other and from other trades, and the engineered stone removal is notified to the regulator as legacy work. All workers who may be exposed are trained in silica health risks and the controls, and air monitoring is arranged on representative shifts to confirm the controls hold below the exposure standard. Clean-up across the site uses H-class vacuums rather than sweeping, plant and tools are decontaminated, and exposed workers are enrolled in health monitoring with a registered medical practitioner. Monitoring and training records are retained centrally for the project.

Related legislation

• Model Work Health and Safety Act — primary duty of care; the duty to consult workers; the reckless-conduct offence; and notifiable-incident provisions, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
• Model Work Health and Safety Regulations — the crystalline silica provisions governing processing of a crystalline silica substance, the high-risk processing definition, the silica risk control plan, training, air monitoring and health monitoring, and the high risk construction work provisions where a silica task is also construction work, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
• Workplace exposure standard for respirable crystalline silica: 0.05 mg/m3 (eight-hour time-weighted average), which must not be exceeded; reframed as a workplace exposure limit from 1 December 2026.
• From 1 September 2024, stronger regulation of work with all materials containing at least 1 per cent crystalline silica across all industries; and the prohibition on engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs from 1 July 2024.
• Victoria operates under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, with the silica provisions and Compliance Codes applying in place of the model instruments.

Frequently asked questions