practicable to eliminate the risks . Failure to comply with regulation 351 is a breach of the PCBU ’ s primary duty of care in section 19 of the model WHS Act .
As with all health and safety duties in the model WHS law , the duty on a PCBU to manage the risks to health and safety from RCS at a workplace are not transferrable 21 .
Workplace exposure standard for RCS
A PCBU must ensure that no person at the workplace is exposed to a substance or mixture in an airborne concentration that exceeds the exposure standard for the substance or mixture . 22 The duty to ensure the WES is not exceeded is absolute and not qualified by so far as is reasonably practicable . A WES must not be adjusted upwards , even for shifts of less than eight hours ( Safe Work Australia 2021a ).
This means that a PCBU must ensure that no person at the workplace is exposed to RCS at a concentration above the WES , which is an eight-hour TWA of 0.05 mg / m 3 . An exposure standard represents the airborne concentration of a particular substance or mixture that must not be exceeded . However , it does not represent a line between a ‘ safe ’ and ‘ unsafe ’ concentration of an airborne substance or mixture . The exposure standard does not eliminate risk of disease and some people may experience adverse health effects below the exposure standard .
Air monitoring
A PCBU must undertake air monitoring in the breathing zone of workers ( Safe Work Australia 2013 ) if there is uncertainty that the workplace exposure standard is being exceeded or if it is necessary to determine whether there is a risk to a worker ’ s health . 23 Air monitoring records must be kept for a period of 30 years and must be readily accessible to persons in the workplace who may be exposed to RCS . 24 The air monitoring report should be made available to a WHS inspector on request and to a registered medical practitioner carrying out or supervising health monitoring ( Safe Work Australia 2021a ).
Health monitoring
PCBUs must also provide and pay for health monitoring for workers if they carry out ongoing work generating RCS , or there is a significant risk to the worker ’ s health because of exposure . 25 Health monitoring must be undertaken by or under the supervision of a medical practitioner with experience in health monitoring and a record must be given to the worker as soon as practicable after receipt , be kept for a period of 30 years and given to the WHS regulator in certain circumstances . 26
Under Schedule 14 to the model WHS Regulations , the minimum requirements for health monitoring for crystalline silica through exposure to RCS are :
� collection of demographic , medical and occupational history
� records of personal exposure
21 model WHS Act s14 .
22 model WHS Regulations r49 .
23 model WHS Regulations r50 and r368 .
24 model WHS Regulations r378 .
25 model WHS Regulations r370 .
26 model WHS Regulations rr371 , 375 , 378 .
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