Australia-Workplace Exposure Limits for Airborne Contaminants

This document contains the new list of Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs) that Australia plans to implement effective December 1, 2026, intended to replace the Workplace Exposure Standards (WES) system. Key changes include: renaming “exposure standards” to “exposure limits”; establishing three types of exposure limits—the 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA), the short-term exposure limit (STEL), and the peak limit; and conducting a comprehensive review and revision of existing exposure limits, resulting in lower limits for 160 substances, higher limits for 11 substances, and revised limits for 79 substances; an exposure limit for diesel particulate matter (0.01 mg/m³) has been added; simultaneously, exposure limits for 33 non-threshold genotoxic carcinogens have been removed, meaning exposure to these substances should be avoided as much as possible. These regulations apply to all persons conducting business or operations (PCBU) within Australia, namely employers and business operators.