NSW Dust Strategy
The NSW Dust Strategy aims to prevent occupational diseases by providing workers and businesses with a coordinated approach for the safe handling of hazardous dust including asbestos, silica and wood.
Injuries and death from breathing in asbestos, silica, wood and other dusts are preventable.
Identify the hazard, handle it safely, dispose of it responsibly:
- engage a licensed asbestos professional for asbestos removal work
- use simple controls such as water and dust capture tools when working with silica
- wear the right personal protective equipment, including a correctly fitted face mask.
Learn more about the national occupational lung disease campaign - Clean Air. Clean Lungs.
The NSW Dust Strategy provides a coordinated approach for SafeWork NSW and industry to:
- respond to current and emerging dust-related harms by following three key principles that apply to all dust:
- identify the hazard
- handle it safely
- dispose of it responsibly
- prevent dust exposure through compliance, regulation, awareness and education
- educate workers about dust exposure with consistent communication of best-practice safety controls for different dust types and work activities.
The NSW Dust Strategy is aligned to SafeWork’s hazardous chemicals exposure reduction programs under the NSW WHS Roadmap 2022.
Please note, the Roadmap has been replaced by the SafeWork NSW Regulatory Priorities.
How to safely control dust
Safety control | Asbestos | Silica | Wood and other products |
---|---|---|---|
Substitute materials | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Train workers | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Ventilate work area | No | Yes | Yes |
Negative air pressure | Yes | No | No |
Wet cut | No | Yes | No |
Dust capture | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Masks and PPE | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Vacuum class M | No | Yes | Yes |
Vacuum class H | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Wet clean-up | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Licenced contractors | Yes | No | No |
Air monitoring
Air monitoring (testing the amount of dust in the air) must be conducted in workplaces where silica, asbestos or wood dust is being generated.
Learn more about airborne contaminants.
Refer to the Work Health and Safety Regulation (WHS Regulation):
- clause 50 for silica, wood and other dusts
- clauses 475 and 477 on asbestos.
Health monitoring
Health monitoring (lung screening) must be provided to workers at significant risk of exposure to silica dust (see clause 368 of the WHS Regulation) or asbestos (clause 435 of the WHS Regulation).
See crystalline silica and watch the webinar.
NSW Dust Disease Register
Asbestosis, mesothelioma and silicosis cases in NSW are now recorded on the NSW Dust Disease Register and reported in the NSW Dust Disease Register Annual Report.
A Case Finding Study on silica exposure in the manufactured (engineered) stone industry is also available.
NSW silica dashboard
See the latest information on workplace exposure to silica dust in NSW, including workplace compliance program activity and silicosis case data.
Tools and resources
- NSW Dust Strategy 2020-2022
- Clean Air. Clean Lungs - Safe Work Australia's occupational lung disease campaign
- SafeWork NSW asbestos (including videos, tools and resources)
- SafeWork NSW crystalline silica (including videos, tools and resources)
- NSW Government silica dashboard
- SafeWork NSW wood dust health hazards and control fact sheet
- Workplace management of respiratory conditions including asthma
- Cancer Council - wood products
- Case Finding Study - Respirable crystalline silica in the NSW manufactured stone industry
- Poster about hazardous dust in the workplace - Dust in construction