On 4 August 2026, Safe Work Australia (SWA) announced that the new version of the Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS) is now available. The new system displays classification information under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) together with workplace exposure limit (WEL) data on a single page, supporting businesses in the transition to the WELs that take effect on 1 December 2026 — from that date, the WELs will formally replace the current workplace exposure standards for airborne contaminants (WES), and workplace exposure to airborne contaminants must be managed in accordance with the new limits.
The new HCIS and the WEL transition
As part of the upgrade, GHS classification data from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) have also been updated; during the transition period, current WES information remains accessible via the SWA website and the previous version of the HCIS. It should be noted that the HCIS is a guidance tool rather than a comprehensive database of hazardous chemicals: the absence of a substance from the system does not mean that it is non-hazardous, and the legal responsibility for classifying products remains with manufacturers and importers. The WELs are a new list resulting from the first systematic review of the WES since 2003 and take effect in a harmonised manner on 1 December 2026; the renaming itself does not change obligations under the model WHS Regulations — the current WES apply up to and including 30 November 2026, and the WELs apply from 1 December.
Key changes in the WEL list
Compared with the WES list, the WEL list adjusts a number of limit entries and advisory notations. Changes at the entry level include increases or decreases in limit values, changes to the designation of exposure type, merging or splitting of contaminant groupings, renaming of entries, and additions or removals of entries; SWA has prepared a comparison table of the changes between the two lists for businesses to check (https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/managing-health-and-safety/workplace-exposure-limits-airborne-contaminants/changes-between-wes-and-wel). Changes to the advisory notations include:
- the sensitisation notation (SEN) is split into dermal sensitisation (DSEN) and respiratory sensitisation (RSEN), indicating respectively the risk of allergic reactions arising from skin contact and from inhalation;
- a new ototoxic notation (OTO) is introduced, indicating that exposure to such substances may increase the risk of hearing loss, with a higher risk where there is simultaneous exposure to noise;
- the carcinogenicity notation (CARC) is removed, with carcinogenicity information available from the substance’s SDS or the HCIS.
33 non-threshold genotoxic carcinogens listed separately
The WES review identified 33 airborne contaminants as non-threshold genotoxic carcinogens (NTGCs) — substances that can cause genetic damage and may induce cancer, for which no protective level of exposure can be set. These 33 substances have been removed from the WEL list and set out separately, and from 1 December 2026 no exposure limits will be assigned to them: where an NTGC is present in the workplace, the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must eliminate it from the workplace, or substitute it with a safer alternative where this is possible; where elimination or substitution is not possible, the risk must be reduced so far as is reasonably practicable. During the transition period, the current WES for these substances must continue to be observed, and where a substance is included in Schedule 10 or Schedule 14 of the model WHS Regulations, the corresponding obligations continue to apply. The 33 substances include acrylamide, acrylonitrile, 1,3-butadiene, hexavalent chromium compounds (including zinc chromates), coal tar pitch volatiles (as benzene-soluble matter), 1,2-dichloroethane, dimethyl sulfate, ethylene oxide, hydrazine, vinyl chloride, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures containing benzo[a]pyrene, among others — most of them common raw materials, intermediates or monomers in the chemical industry.
Obligations under the WELs and transition preparations
From 1 December, PCBUs must ensure that the airborne concentration of a specific substance or mixture to which any person at the workplace is exposed does not exceed its WEL; where it is uncertain whether a WEL is exceeded, air monitoring must be undertaken to determine the airborne concentration. Risk controls should follow the hierarchy of controls, and the protection provided by respiratory protective equipment (RPE) must not be relied upon as the basis for determining compliance with a WEL until all reasonably practicable higher-order controls have been implemented.
SWA recommends that PCBUs complete a review following the “identify, assess, control” approach before the transition period ends on 30 November: check the airborne contaminants used or generated in the workplace and their new limits against the WEL list, assess whether any exposure exceeds the limits, and implement and review control measures where necessary.
Limits for 9 chemicals await ministers’ decision
The proposed limits for nine chemicals — benzene, chlorine, copper (fume, dust and mist), formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen dioxide, respirable crystalline silica and titanium dioxide — are yet to be finalised: following public consultation, SWA has prepared a Decision Regulation Impact Statement and submitted it to WHS ministers for consideration. Until the ministers make a decision, the current WES continue to apply to these nine chemicals.
ChemRadar Insights
With the final transition window before the WELs take effect now underway, affected businesses are advised to:
- businesses working with any of the 33 NTGCs should assess options for elimination or substitution as early as possible — from 1 December, these substances will no longer have exposure limits against which compliance can be demonstrated;
- manufacturers and importers should review the classification, labelling and SDSs of products supplied to Australia against the updated GHS classification data, while businesses using chemicals should accordingly strengthen engineering controls such as ventilation and enclosure, as well as air monitoring arrangements;
- continue to follow the ministers’ decisions on the proposed limits for the nine pending chemicals and the guidance materials SWA publishes subsequently.
