Australia's 2026 WHS PPE Changes: Regulation 44 and the New Workplace Exposure Limits
Two things changed for PPE in Australian workplaces. On 5 December 2025 the model WHS Regulations clarified that Regulation 44’s PPE duties apply wherever PPE is used. On 1 December 2026 the Workplace Exposure Standards become Workplace Exposure Limits (WEL), and 177 limits go down, including Portland cement, softwood dust, bitumen fumes and a first national limit for diesel particulate. Silica, benzene, formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide do not change, and the legal duty is not new. Where respirators are part of the control, they only count towards the limit if they are the right model, fit-tested and worn correctly. PPE vending can restrict tight-fitting respirators to the workers you authorise, such as those with a current fit test, and log every issue by worker, model and size, which gives the site that record.
Updated 9 October 2026. This post first ran in July 2026. It has been corrected to reflect the WHS ministers’ 24 June 2026 decision to keep the current limits for silica, benzene and seven other chemicals, the Victorian and Queensland positions on the WEL, and Safe Work Australia’s statement that the WEL brings no new obligations. An earlier version also attributed a quote to Safe Work Australia that did not come from Safe Work Australia; it has been removed.
Two changes affect how Australian industrial sites manage PPE in 2026. One is a clarification of the PPE duty itself. The other is a new set of exposure limit numbers. Neither creates a new legal duty, but together they make one thing more important: being able to show that the PPE you rely on is the right PPE, issued to the right person, and used properly.
Change 1: Regulation 44 now applies wherever PPE is used
On 5 December 2025, Safe Work Australia published amendments to the model WHS Regulations, approved by WHS ministers. One of them is a small wording change to Regulation 44, the regulation that sets out the PPE duty.
Regulation 44(1) used to require PPE to be provided “in accordance with regulation 36”, the hierarchy of controls. The amendment removes those words. The explanatory statement says the regulation “now applies wherever PPE is to be used to minimise a risk to work health and safety”.
This is a clarification, not an overhaul. The hierarchy of controls still applies: elimination, substitution and engineering controls come before PPE. What the change stops is the argument that the PPE duties only apply once PPE has been formally identified as the required control. Where workers use PPE to reduce a risk, the full Regulation 44 duties apply: provide it at no cost to the worker, choose it for the hazard and the individual’s size and fit, train workers in its use, and maintain, repair or replace it.
The amendment is to the model law. Each jurisdiction adopts it into its own regulations. Victoria has its own OHS Act and regulations, so the model amendment does not apply there directly.
Change 2: Workplace Exposure Limits from 1 December 2026
From 1 December 2026, the Workplace Exposure Standards (WES) are renamed Workplace Exposure Limits (WEL), and many of the numbers change.
The duty is not new. Safe Work Australia says, on its page about the changes between the WES and the WEL: “There are no changes to your obligations under the model work health and safety (WHS) regulations”. Employers already had to keep exposures below the WES. The new name is meant to make clear that the values are limits not to be exceeded.
The numbers do change. Of about 700 substances, 278 change, according to Victoria’s regulatory impact assessment:
- 177 get lower limits.
- 31 are added, including the first national limit for diesel particulate matter: 0.01 mg/m³, measured as respirable elemental carbon (NOPSEMA).
- 33 carcinogens lose their numeric limit (Safe Work Australia). These are non-threshold genotoxic carcinogens. Exposure to them must be eliminated or kept as low as reasonably practicable.
Some of the cuts that matter most for construction and trades (The Good Builder, August 2026):
| Substance | WES (until 30 Nov 2026) | WEL (from 1 Dec 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Portland cement | 10 mg/m³ (inhalable) | 1 mg/m³ (respirable) |
| Softwood dust | 5 mg/m³ | 2 mg/m³ |
| Bitumen fumes | 5 mg/m³ | 0.5 mg/m³ |
| Hydrated lime | 5 mg/m³ | 1 mg/m³ |
| Diesel particulate | No limit | 0.01 mg/m³ (new) |
Manganese fume (welding), grain dust and phosphine (grain fumigation) also have lower limits.
What does not change: silica, benzene and seven others
On 24 June 2026, WHS ministers did not agree new limits for 9 chemicals: respirable crystalline silica, benzene, formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, chlorine, copper, hydrogen cyanide and titanium dioxide. A majority of ministers asked for further work. Safe Work Australia’s announcement says: “There will be no changes to the exposure limits for the 9 chemicals from 1 December 2026.”
Respirable crystalline silica stays at 0.05 mg/m³. Existing silica rules still apply, including the engineered stone ban and, in NSW, mandatory silica training and the silica worker register.
State by state (as at 9 October 2026)
The WEL list is adopted by each jurisdiction, so the start date is not the same everywhere:
| Jurisdiction | Status |
|---|---|
| NSW | Proceeding on 1 December 2026. SafeWork NSW is running an awareness campaign (Grain Central). |
| South Australia | Proceeding on 1 December 2026. |
| Victoria | Adopting the WEL list, but WorkSafe Victoria has announced that 15 substances are delayed to 1 December 2029, including diesel particulate, wood dust, Portland cement, bitumen fumes, manganese fume, grain dust and phosphine (Farm Weekly, August 2026). |
| Queensland | Not yet decided. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is still considering the options, including longer transition periods (Grain Central). |
| Other jurisdictions | Check with your regulator. |
Where respirators fit in
For most sites, PPE is a small part of meeting a lower exposure limit. Victoria’s regulatory impact assessment puts PPE at about 8% of the cost of adopting the WEL. Most of the cost goes on ventilation, extraction, isolation, substitution and monitoring. The same assessment notes that small businesses are more likely to rely on PPE, for example moving from half-face to full-face respirators, and that mobile work such as construction often leaves PPE as the only practical control.
Where respirators are part of the control, Safe Work Australia sets a condition. The protection a respirator provides “can be taken into account when determining compliance with an exposure limit, provided all other reasonably practicable higher order controls have been implemented, and the RPE is worn correctly” (Safe Work Australia).
“Worn correctly” is where records matter. For tight-fitting respirators, SafeWork NSW and AS/NZS 1715:2009 require a fit test before first use, each time a new make or model is issued, when facial characteristics change, and at least once a year, with a written record for each worker. A respirator from an open bin, in a model the worker was never fit-tested on, does not meet that.
What a defensible PPE record looks like
None of the items below is a new legal requirement. They are the questions a safety manager, an auditor or an inspector is likely to ask, and the record that answers them:
| Question | Open crib or sign-out sheet | Per-worker PPE vending |
|---|---|---|
| Who took what? | A signature, if anyone signed | Worker ID, item, size, time and machine for every issue |
| Which respirator model was issued? | Usually unknown | Make, model and size logged with every issue, to match against the fit-test record |
| Was their fit test current? | Checked separately, if at all | Respirators restricted to an authorised worker group, kept in line with your fit-test register |
| Were filters and cartridges replaced? | Unknown | Replacement issues logged per worker |
| Is use reasonable? | Honour system | Per-worker limits per shift or period |
| Can you produce the record? | Days of collating paper | A report by worker, date range or item |
A checklist for 1 December 2026 and after
1. Find out what changes for your substances. Compare your exposure monitoring against the new limits. Focus on what actually changes: cement, timber dust, bitumen, lime, diesel exhaust, welding fume, grain dust and phosphine. Check whether your state has deferred any of them. Silica and benzene are unchanged.
2. Fix higher-order controls first. Respirators only count once reasonably practicable ventilation, extraction and substitution are in place.
3. Check every tight-fitting respirator user. Current fit test, the right make, model and size, clean-shaven where the seal needs it, and a written record.
4. Close the records gap. Under Regulation 44 you must provide suitable PPE, train workers and maintain it. Being able to show who was issued what, and when, is the easiest way to demonstrate it.
5. Treat it as ongoing. 1 December is when the numbers change, not a pass-or-fail date. The duty to keep exposures below the limit, and to show your controls work, continues after it.
How KioskForce PPE vending helps
KioskForce designs and builds industrial PPE vending machines. They are a way to keep the record, not a substitute for higher-order controls.
Respirators restricted to authorised workers. The machine can restrict tight-fitting respirators to a worker group you control, such as the workers with a current fit test. Each issue records the make, model and size, so it can be checked against your fit-test records. Remove a worker from the group when their fit test lapses and the machine stops issuing to them.
Every issue is logged. Worker ID, item, size and time are recorded on the machine and synced to the cloud, so you can pull a report for any worker, date range or item.
Per-worker limits. Set a limit per shift or period, for example two cartridge sets per worker per shift, and the machine refuses the next request.
Dispense and return in one machine. Hybrid locker cells issue reusable items such as harnesses or powered air-purifying respirators, and accept them back into a cell, so the record covers the whole loan.
Optional weight sensing. Per-cell weight sensors are an option specified at order and fitted during manufacture. They suit cells holding loose consumables such as gloves or earplugs.
The cost case
The penalties are real. A Category 2 offence, failing a health and safety duty and exposing someone to a risk of death or serious injury, carries a maximum of about $2.2 million for a corporation in NSW (Safe Work Australia penalties table). But a vending machine is not what keeps a site out of court. The controls do. The machine produces the record that shows the PPE part of those controls is working.
The day-to-day case is usually PPE spend: less over-issue and fewer unlogged items. Our PPE vending cost calculator works out payback from your own numbers.
A machine ordered today may not be installed before 1 December. It does not need to be. The limits apply from that date onwards, and so does the need to show your respirator programme works.
KioskForce designs and builds industrial PPE vending machines for Australian and international industrial sites, with hybrid locker dispense-and-return, per-worker access control and issue reporting. See specifications or contact us to discuss your site.
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