Stone benchtops or cutting silica products

Printed on a job only when this tag is ticked or silica is in its tags column. Never read from the task text.

What the sheet prints

• No engineered stone; silica cutting only with controlled processing WHS Regs r 529C; r 529D to 529F

The clauses behind it

Each clause below is our statement of it, cited to it, not the text verbatim.

• the model WHS Regulations, r529C

  r 529C Process crystalline silica substances only when the processing is controlled. A PCBU does not carry out, or direct or allow a worker to carry out, processing of a crystalline silica substance unless the processing is controlled as defined in r 529B (engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs are further restricted by rr 529D and 529F).

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

• the model WHS Regulations, r529D-529F

  rr 529D to 529F Engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs are prohibited, with narrow exceptions. A PCBU does not carry out, or direct or allow a worker to carry out, work manufacturing, supplying, processing or installing engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs, except supply or installation for genuine research and analysis or sampling and identification, and controlled processing for research and analysis, sampling and identification, removing, repairing or making minor modifications to installed engineered stone, or disposal (a type of engineered stone may be exempted under Part 11.2 Division 3A).

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

In Victoria

A Victorian sheet prints, in place of the lines above:

• No engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs installed, made or supplied; silica work assessed and recorded or classed as high risk, a CSHCS prepared, followed and kept; water, on-tool extraction or LEV on the tools; respirators; no compressed-air cleaning OHS Regs (Vic) rr 319J, 319K(1), 319L(1) and (2), 319N, 319S, 319V(1), 319X, 319Y

Victoria: the lines below cite the Victorian OHS Act and OHS Regulations; the Regulations are due to sunset, so check the version in force.

Each clause below is our statement of it, cited to it, not the text verbatim.

• the Victorian OHS Regulations, r319J

  r 319J Identify high risk crystalline silica work before starting a process. Before undertaking any crystalline silica process, or a combination of them, each employer, and each self-employed person, must either conduct a risk assessment to work out whether it amounts to HRCSW, or simply classify it as HRCSW. The assessment must consider the particular tasks or processes to be done with silica-containing material, the form of crystalline silica, the silica proportion in the material, earlier atmospheric monitoring results, how often and how long people are likely to be exposed to the dust, and any known incidents, illnesses or diseases linked to silica dust at the workplace. Relying only on the effect of existing r 163 dust controls is not enough. If the duty holder cannot tell, the work must be treated as high risk until shown otherwise. Act compliance is through ss 21, 23 and 24.

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

• the Victorian OHS Regulations, r319K-1

  r 319K(1) Make a written record of the silica risk assessment. Employers and self-employed persons who assess under r 319J(1)(a) must put in writing how each factor in r 319J(2) was taken into account and whether the process, or the combination, amounts to HRCSW. Maximum penalty: 100 units (individual), 500 units (company).

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

• the Victorian OHS Regulations, r319L-1

  r 319L(1) Prepare a CSHCS before high risk crystalline silica work and follow it. No employer, and no self-employed person, may carry out high risk crystalline silica work (HRCSW) unless a crystalline silica hazard control statement (CSHCS) for it was prepared before the work started, and the work is carried out as the CSHCS describes. Where HRCSW is also high risk construction work, a SWMS under r 327 that covers everything a CSHCS must contain counts as the CSHCS, and following that SWMS counts as following the CSHCS for the risk of silica dust exposure (r 319L(3)). Act compliance is through ss 21, 23 and 24.

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

• the Victorian OHS Regulations, r319L-2

  r 319L(2) Stop high risk crystalline silica work that departs from the CSHCS. If HRCSW is not being done in line with its CSHCS, the employer or self-employed person concerned must halt the work at once, or, where halting at once is unsafe, at the first safe moment, and must not restart it until the CSHCS is being followed or has been reviewed and, where needed, revised under r 319M. Act compliance is through ss 21, 23 and 24.

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

• the Victorian OHS Regulations, r319N

  r 319N Keep a copy of the CSHCS for the duration of the work. Employers and self-employed persons must retain a copy of each CSHCS until the HRCSW it covers is finished. The copy is the reference against which compliance under r 319L is checked, and it lets inspectors, supervisors and workers confirm the controls in use match the documented ones. Maximum penalty: 60 units (individual), 300 units (company).

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

• the Victorian OHS Regulations, r319S

  r 319S Use water suppression, on tool extraction or LEV on engineered stone tools. When a power tool or other mechanical plant is used for an engineered stone process, the employer, or the self-employed person, must make sure it operates with one of these: an integrated water delivery system; or a commercially available on tool dust extraction system connected to a Dust Class H Vacuum or another system that captures the dust generated; or, only where neither of those is reasonably practicable, local exhaust ventilation. An integrated water delivery system must keep water flowing continuously to where the tool meets the stone while in use, and must adequately treat any recycled or recirculated water. Act compliance is through ss 21, 23 and 24.

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

• the Victorian OHS Regulations, r319V-1

  r 319V(1) Provide respiratory protective equipment for engineered stone processes. An employer must provide respiratory protective equipment to each employee who carries out an engineered stone process. This applies in addition to the tool-based water, extraction or ventilation controls in r 319S, so respirators are a further layer and never a substitute for them. Training in use, fit, maintenance and storage of the equipment is required by r 319W. Act compliance is through s 21.

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

• the Victorian OHS Regulations, r319X

  r 319X Do not clean with compressed air in engineered stone areas. No employer or self-employed person may use compressed air or any other compressed gas, or have anyone else use it, to clean either an area in which engineered stone has been processed, or the clothes of someone who has been present in an area where engineered stone processing is happening or has happened, unless that use does not produce a respirable crystalline silica concentration above the exposure standard. Act compliance is through ss 21, 23 and 24.

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

• the Victorian OHS Regulations, r319Y

  r 319Y Engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs prohibition. From 1 July 2024 (as substituted by the 2024 amending regulations), employers, self-employed persons and anyone who manages or controls a workplace to any degree, whether as owner or not, are barred from doing, and from directing or allowing their employees or people under their control to do, either of two things: installing, making or supplying benchtops, panels or slabs made of engineered stone; or performing an engineered stone process on such benchtops, panels or slabs. Limited exceptions for research, analysis, sampling, identification, disposal and work on already installed stone are set out in rr 319Z to 319ZB. Maximum penalty: 100 units (individual), 500 units (company).

  The standard, clause by clause. Source.

Trades that meet it most: landscapers, builders.