Noise, Dust and Fumes: Your Exposure Duties on the Factory Floor

What are workplace exposure standards, and why do they matter for manufacturers?

Workplace exposure standards set the legal ceiling on how much noise, dust or airborne chemical fume a worker can be exposed to before it must be reduced. In Victoria, noise is capped at 85 dB(A) averaged over eight hours, and airborne contaminants — dusts, fumes, gases and vapours — each have their own limit under the national Workplace Exposure Standards list. Exceeding either triggers a legal duty to act.

What's the noise exposure standard in Victoria?

The OHS Regulations 2017 (Vic) set the noise exposure standard in two parts:

• 85 dB(A) averaged over an eight-hour period
• a peak noise level of 140 dB(C), which must never be exceeded

Noise-induced hearing loss and deafness made up 85% of all occupational disease claims in Victoria over the past year, with more than half of the 2,323 recorded injuries occurring in manufacturing, construction, and transport, postal and warehousing (WorkSafe Victoria, August 2026).

A practical rule of thumb from WorkSafe: if two people standing a metre apart have to raise their voices to be heard, noise levels are likely close to or above the exposure standard.

How employers are required to control noise

The Regulations set a fixed hierarchy of control, to be worked through in order:

1. Eliminate the noise source (for example, stop using a particular noisy machine)
2. Substitute quieter plant or processes, or apply engineering controls such as enclosures, isolation or silencers
3. Use administrative controls, such as rotating employees between noisy and quiet tasks
4. Provide hearing protectors as a last resort, once the steps above haven't brought exposure below the standard

If an employee needs hearing protection to keep their exposure under the standard, the employer must arrange (and pay for) audiometric testing within three months of them starting that work, and at least every two years after that.

What's changing with dust and fume exposure standards?

Airborne contaminants — welding fume, wood dust, solvent vapour and respirable crystalline silica among them — are governed by the Workplace Exposure Standards (WES) list, published nationally by Safe Work Australia and adopted directly into Victoria's OHS Regulations 2017.

There are three types of exposure standard:

Type	What it measures
8-hour time-weighted average (TWA)	Average exposure over an 8-hour day, 40-hour week — the most common standard
15-minute short-term exposure limit (STEL)	Maximum average exposure over any 15-minute period, for substances with acute short-term effects
Peak limitation	A concentration that must never be exceeded, even momentarily

From 1 December 2026, Safe Work Australia is replacing the WES list with a new Workplace Exposure Limits (WEL) list — the first full review since 2003 — using the same three-tier structure but tighter language around what counts as a limit rather than a target. Until that date, employers must keep complying with the current WES list.

Silica dust: a live enforcement focus

Respirable crystalline silica — generated by cutting, grinding or polishing stone, concrete, brick or tile — has an exposure standard of 0.05 mg/m³ as an 8-hour TWA. WorkSafe Victoria recommends employers go further and aim to keep exposure below 0.02 mg/m³ as a precaution against silicosis and lung cancer risk.

What should manufacturers do now?

• Identify which airborne contaminants and noise sources exist on your site, and check them against the current WES list and the 85 dB(A) / 140 dB(C) noise standard
• Arrange atmospheric or noise monitoring where there's genuine uncertainty about whether a standard is being exceeded
• Apply the hierarchy of controls before reaching for PPE
• Start reviewing chemical and dust-generating processes now, ahead of the 1 December 2026 shift to the WEL list

FAQ

Does wearing a mask or earmuffs mean I've met my exposure duties? No. Under the Regulations, personal protective equipment is the last control measure, only to be relied on once elimination, substitution, engineering and administrative controls have been exhausted or shown not to bring exposure below the standard.

How do I know if noise or dust is a problem on my site if I haven't measured it? WorkSafe Victoria points to practical warning signs for noise — raised voices at a metre, ringing ears after a shift — but for airborne contaminants, air monitoring by a qualified person is generally needed wherever there's uncertainty about exposure levels.

What's the difference between the WES and the new WEL list? They cover the same substances using the same three exposure standard types (TWA, STEL, peak), but the WEL list follows a broader scientific review — the first since 2003 — and some individual limits are expected to change when it takes effect nationally on 1 December 2026.

If you're not sure where your site sits against current noise or dust exposure standards, a safety practitioner can help you find out before an inspector does — book a site assessment at https://ardmor.com.au/book-audit.

This article is general information for Victorian manufacturers, not legal advice. Last updated: 10 August 2026.