Menu

Blog For manufacturers

Workplace exposure limits 2026: what changes on 1 December for SDS

By SupplySafe Team Published Updated 8 min read

Workplace exposure limits take over on 1 December 2026. On that date Safe Work Australia’s workplace exposure limits (WEL) replace the workplace exposure standards (WES) for airborne contaminants, and until then businesses must keep complying with the WES. On a safety data sheet these values live in Section 8, so now is a good time for manufacturers and importers to check them.

Safe Work Australia’s materials don’t set a separate SDS deadline for the change. The duty that already applies is the familiar one: amend your SDS whenever necessary to keep it correct and current. Here’s what’s changing, where it touches your SDS, and a to-do list you can start on this week.

When are exposure standards replaced, and what changes?

Safe Work Australia announced the change in April 2024. Work health and safety ministers agreed to the new WEL list and “a harmonised transition period ending on 30 November 2026.” The rename is deliberate. Ministers agreed to call them limits:

to make it clear that these are a limit that should not be exceeded, and for Australia to align with terms used internationally.

And the timing, straight from Safe Work Australia’s WEL list page:

Until 1 December 2026, PCBUs must still comply with the WES list.

From 1 December, businesses must make sure no one at the workplace is exposed to an airborne contaminant above the exposure limit in the WEL list.

Is this just a new name? Not quite. Safe Work Australia says most limits didn’t change, but the review “did result in some changes, including reductions and increases in limits for certain chemicals and the removal or introduction of new limits for others.” Back in 2024, ministers also asked for more impact analysis on nine substances (including respirable crystalline silica, formaldehyde and benzene) before their limits would be updated. In June 2026, Safe Work Australia announced that a majority of ministers hadn’t supported new levels for those nine chemicals and had asked for further work, so there will be no changes to their exposure limits from 1 December 2026. The safe move is simple: check every ingredient against the published WEL list itself, not a summary.

What the law change looks like

The Model Work Health and Safety (Workplace Exposure Limits) Amendment Regulations 2026 commence on 1 December 2026. They mostly swap “exposure standard” for “exposure limit” throughout the model WHS Regulations, and define the new term as:

an exposure limit in the document called Workplace exposure limits for airborne contaminants published by Safe Work Australia on its website, as in force or remade from time to time.

We read the whole instrument. It doesn’t contain an SDS-specific deadline or transition clause for manufacturers or importers.

Where do workplace exposure limits apply in Australia?

Safe Work Australia says the WEL list will be adopted throughout Australia “following implementation into the WHS laws of the Commonwealth, states and territories.” For the laws in your jurisdiction, it says to contact your WHS regulator. Safe Work Australia also notes that the model WHS laws have been implemented in every jurisdiction except Victoria.

Victoria

Victoria works a little differently. WorkSafe Victoria explains that the definition of exposure standard in Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 “adopts the WES list”. Its page on the change (reviewed 5 October 2026) says:

From 1 December 2026, Safe Work Australia will replace the WES list with the Workplace exposure limits for airborne contaminants (WEL) list. The WEL list will operate nationally.

Until 1 December 2026, employers must still comply with the WES list.

The Victorian Government also published an exposure draft of amending regulations earlier in 2026. That was a draft. If you make or sell product in Victoria, check WorkSafe Victoria for the final Victorian regulations before you finalise anything.

Where do exposure limits appear on an SDS?

Section 8: Exposure controls and personal protection. It’s one of the 16 headings every SDS must use under Schedule 7 of the WHS Regulations. Safe Work Australia’s Code of Practice on preparing SDS says this section “should list the available exposure standards, including all notations, for each hazardous chemical ingredient.” Exposure values for air contaminants generated when the product is used as intended should be listed too.

The Code (last updated June 2023) still uses the older term, but its advice fits the moment perfectly:

Exposure standards are reviewed from time to time and therefore an up-to-date record of exposure standards should be consulted.

Victoria’s list of required SDS content also includes “exposure control, including exposure standards, engineering controls and personal protection information.”

Section 3 is worth a glance too. Under Schedule 8, a confidential ingredient can only be disclosed by a generic name if certain conditions are met, including that “an exposure standard for the ingredient has not been established.” The amendment changes that wording to “exposure limit”. If you rely on a generic name, check whether that ingredient has a value on the new list.

WEL from December 2026: is there an SDS deadline?

Safe Work Australia’s June 2026 stakeholder kit tells employers to start preparing now. One of its key messages lists preparation steps “including when to undertake air and health monitoring, consult with workers, review safety data sheets, and when to engage an occupational hygienist.” Its suggested social media caption for employers lists “revising safety data sheets” among the steps.

That message is aimed at employers, and that’s exactly why it matters to you. When your customers review their SDS against the new limits, they’ll be looking at your Section 8.

As for a deadline: we didn’t find a separate SDS deadline in Safe Work Australia’s materials or in the amending regulations. The existing duty in regulation 330(3)(b) of the model WHS Regulations applies. The manufacturer or importer must:

amend the safety data sheet whenever necessary to ensure that it contains correct and current information.

Whether a particular SDS needs amending depends on its ingredients and what it currently says. Only you can make that call for your products. For the full set of duties, see SDS requirements for manufacturers and importers.

What should manufacturers do now?

  1. List the products affected. Start with any SDS that shows exposure values in Section 8.
  2. Compare each ingredient with the WEL list. Download the list from Safe Work Australia and check TWA, STEL, peak limitation and notations against what your SDS says. Include air contaminants your product generates in use.
  3. Check your Section 3 generic names against the new list.
  4. Plan your revisions. Decide which SDS need amending and when. The WES still apply until 1 December, so be clear about which list each value comes from.
  5. Update the date. Every SDS must state the date it was last reviewed (or, if never reviewed, prepared). The Code says Section 16 should give the date of the latest revision and describe what changed. A clear change note (“Section 8 updated to workplace exposure limits”) saves your customers a lot of squinting. See which SDS date matters.
  6. Get the new revision to your customers. Suppliers must provide an amended SDS the first time they supply the chemical after the change, and workplaces must obtain it. Make it easy for both.
  7. Selling into Victoria? Check WorkSafe Victoria for the final Victorian position.

For dated, official updates as the changeover happens, see What’s changing.

Where SupplySafe fits

Manufacturers, importers and brand owners publish their SDS on SupplySafe free. When you publish a new revision, every workshop register holding that product shows “A newer revision is available”, and you never see which workshops hold your products.

Frequently asked questions

When do workplace exposure limits replace exposure standards?
On 1 December 2026. Until then, Safe Work Australia says businesses must still comply with the workplace exposure standards (WES) list.
Is there a deadline to update SDS for the WEL change in December 2026?
Neither Safe Work Australia's materials nor the amending regulations set a separate SDS deadline that we could find. The existing duty in regulation 330(3)(b) of the model WHS Regulations applies: the manufacturer or importer must amend the SDS whenever necessary to keep it correct and current.
Did the exposure values themselves change?
Most didn't. Safe Work Australia says the review did result in some changes, including reductions and increases in limits for certain chemicals and the removal or introduction of limits for others, so check each ingredient against the published WEL list itself. There will be no changes on 1 December 2026 to the limits for nine chemicals, including benzene, formaldehyde and respirable crystalline silica, while ministers ask for further work.
Where do exposure limits appear on an SDS?
In Section 8, Exposure controls and personal protection. Safe Work Australia's Code of Practice on preparing SDS says this section should list the available exposure standards, including all notations, for each hazardous chemical ingredient.
Do the new workplace exposure limits apply in Victoria?
WorkSafe Victoria says the WEL list will replace the WES list from 1 December 2026 and will operate nationally, and that employers must still comply with the WES list until then. Check WorkSafe Victoria for the final Victorian regulations.

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice. It quotes and links the regulator's own wording; check the source and your state or territory regulator for anything that applies to your workplace. SupplySafe distributes Safety Data Sheets and does not author, edit or certify them. Rules change: see What's changing for dated, official updates.

All articles