Crystalline Silica Substance Risk Control Plan SWMS
Overarching crystalline silica substance risk control plan for PCBUs. Air monitoring, health surveillance, control hierarchy, worker information and training.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
A crystalline silica risk control plan is the mandatory document a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must prepare before carrying out high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance under the model Work Health and Safety Regulations. It is not a generic safety form: it is a specific instrument introduced as part of the strengthened crystalline silica provisions that took effect from 1 September 2024, and it sits at the centre of how silica exposure is managed and demonstrated to the regulator. Where work is reasonably likely to generate respirable crystalline silica (RCS) above half the workplace exposure standard on a regular basis, the plan must be in place before the processing starts, developed in consultation with workers, and kept available at the workplace. This document provides the structure, mandatory content and supporting registers to produce a defensible silica risk control plan, and it complements the task-specific silica method statements for cutting, drilling, grinding, demolition, tunnelling and engineered stone work.
The plan exists to drive the control of RCS against the workplace exposure standard of 0.05 mg/m3 as an eight-hour time-weighted average, which must not be exceeded and which is reframed as a workplace exposure limit from 1 December 2026. A compliant plan identifies each type of high-risk processing being carried out, the crystalline silica substances involved, the hazards and who is at risk, and the control measures selected using the hierarchy of controls; it documents how those controls are used, maintained, monitored and reviewed; it records the air monitoring approach and results; and it sets out the worker training and the health monitoring provided through a registered medical practitioner. A single plan may cover multiple processing activities provided the specific controls for each are set out. This document is written so that a duty holder can prepare a plan that genuinely controls exposure and withstands regulator scrutiny, rather than a box-ticking record.
Hazards identified
9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Uncontrolled RCS exposure and breach of the crystalline silica duties under the WHS Regulations
Silicosis, lung cancer and progressive massive fibrosis from inadequately controlled exposure
Controls degrading unnoticed and exposure exceeding the standard despite a plan existing
Gaps where high-exposure tasks are carried out outside the plan's controls
Unverified exposure and undetected exceedances that should be notified to the regulator
Controls applied incorrectly or inconsistently, leaving workers exposed
Early silica disease undetected and a breach of the health monitoring duty
An out-of-date plan that no longer reflects or controls the actual exposure
A plan that misses on-the-ground hazards and cannot guide the workers it covers
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination: use the plan to drive elimination of silica-generating processing first — recording where tasks have been designed out through cast-in penetrations, pre-cut materials or off-site fabrication.
- 2Substitution: document substitution decisions in the plan — lower-silica materials and lower-dust methods selected, and materials chosen outside prohibition where engineered stone would otherwise be used.
- 3Engineering: record the primary engineering controls for each processing activity — water suppression to the tool and on-tool H-class extraction, with ventilation in enclosed areas — and how their performance is maintained and checked.
- 4Administrative: assess and record which processing activities are high risk, identify the crystalline silica substances and percentages involved, and prepare the plan before any high-risk processing commences.
- 5Administrative: develop the plan in consultation with workers and health and safety representatives, keep it available at the workplace, and provide it to any registered medical practitioner carrying out health monitoring.
- 6Administrative: document the air monitoring approach — when it is conducted, by a suitably qualified person, against the 0.05 mg/m3 exposure standard — record the results in the plan, and notify the regulator of any exceedance within the prescribed period.
- 7Administrative: record the worker training in silica health risks, the exposure standard and the correct use of controls, and retain the training records.
- 8Administrative: record the health monitoring arrangements through a registered medical practitioner, including respiratory function testing and low-dose high-resolution chest CT as advised, and retain health monitoring records confidentially for at least 30 years.
- 9Administrative: set out the review triggers in the plan — a change in work, materials, controls, monitoring results, an incident, or a worker or health and safety representative concern — and review the plan at least at the stated interval.
- 10PPE: specify in the plan the residual respiratory protection for each activity — at minimum a fit-tested P2 respirator, powered air-purifying respirators for sustained or higher-exposure work, and supplied air where the atmosphere may be oxygen-deficient — per AS/NZS 1715 and AS/NZS 1716.
- 11PPE: specify the supporting PPE — hearing protection, eye protection to AS/NZS 1337.1, gloves, and Class I or Class II safety footwear with protective toecap to AS/NZS 2210.3.
- 12Administrative: confirm all workers covered by the plan hold a valid White Card (General Construction Induction Training, CPCCWHS1001) before entering any construction workplace.
- 13Administrative: include the decontamination and clean-up regime in the plan — H-class vacuuming or wet methods, never dry sweeping or compressed air — and the arrangements to prevent take-home exposure.
- 14Administrative: treat the plan as a living document — update it whenever any review trigger occurs and at minimum every 12 months, recording the revision in the plan's revision log.
Applicable Codes of Practice
The current national code that sets out the silica risk control plan requirement and its content, together with the air monitoring, training and health monitoring duties the plan documents.
The risk management process and hierarchy of controls that the silica risk control plan applies to each processing activity.
The noise controls and exposure standard recorded in the plan where the silica processing also generates hazardous noise.
Selection, fit testing, use and maintenance of the respiratory protection the plan specifies as the residual control for each activity.
The eye protection and protective footwear the plan specifies across the silica processing activities it covers.
High-Risk Silica Work triggered
The silica risk control plan is itself the document required where work is high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance under the model WHS Regulations — that is, processing reasonably likely to generate airborne RCS above half the workplace exposure standard on a regular basis. The plan is the mechanism through which the duties to control exposure, conduct air monitoring, train workers and provide health monitoring are documented and met. This crystalline silica regime is distinct from, and additional to, the Schedule 1 high risk construction work categories, and a SWMS is required as well where a silica task is also construction work such as demolition, tunnel or confined space work.
Preparing a silica risk control plan before high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance is a legal requirement in its own right under the model WHS Regulations, not an optional measure. The plan must be in place before the processing commences, developed in consultation with workers, kept available at the workplace, and provided to any registered medical practitioner carrying out health monitoring. Through the plan the duty holder must document and meet the duties to control RCS exposure below the standard, conduct air monitoring and notify exceedances within the prescribed period, train exposed workers, and provide health monitoring with records kept confidentially for at least 30 years. Failing to prepare or follow a required plan, and failing to control RCS exposure, breach the primary duty of care under the model WHS Act and are actively enforced, with offence categories running from failure-to-comply through to reckless conduct. Body-corporate maxima are substantial and indexed; the current maximum follows the prevailing schedule of the responsible regulator.
Who this is for
- →PCBUs required to prepare a silica risk control plan before carrying out high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance.
- →Builders and principal contractors documenting silica controls across multiple processing activities on a project.
- →Site supervisors and HSE advisors preparing, implementing and reviewing the silica risk control plan.
- →Occupational hygiene and safety consultants supporting duty holders to produce a compliant and defensible plan.
- →PCBU safety managers coordinating the plan with the task-specific silica method statements, air monitoring and health monitoring.
What you receive
- ✓Editable Microsoft Word document (.docx) fully compatible with Microsoft Word 2016 and newer, Google Docs, and LibreOffice Writer.
- ✓Title page with editable fields for PCBU name, ABN, site address, project name, principal contractor details, and document revision date.
- ✓Structured silica risk control plan template aligned to the model crystalline silica Code of Practice, with sections for each high-risk processing activity, the crystalline silica substances involved, the hazards and persons at risk, and the controls selected via the hierarchy of controls.
- ✓Hazard register for the risks the plan exists to manage — each with a documented consequence, inherent risk rating on a 5x5 likelihood-consequence matrix, hierarchy-of-control measures, and residual risk rating.
- ✓Air monitoring section with a record field referencing the 0.05 mg/m3 exposure standard and an exceedance-notification prompt, and a respiratory protection selection and fit-test record per AS/NZS 1715.
- ✓Worker training record for silica health risks and controls, a health monitoring section and register for high-risk silica workers, and a worker consultation record per the model WHS Act consultation duty.
- ✓Review-and-revision section with documented review triggers and a revision log, and a worker sign-on register (blank, expandable).
- ✓Applicable legislation and Codes of Practice schedule pre-populated for the model WHS jurisdiction with a state-variance reference table covering the harmonised states, plus Victoria.
- ✓Guidance notes on completing each section and references to the task-specific silica method statements the plan coordinates.
Worked example
A contractor is mobilising for a project that involves several silica-generating activities — concrete cutting, core drilling and floor grinding — and recognises that this is high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance, so a silica risk control plan must be prepared before any of the work starts. Using this template, the contractor lists each processing activity, identifies the crystalline silica substances and approximate silica percentages, and records the hazards and which workers are at risk. For each activity the plan documents the controls selected through the hierarchy: water suppression and on-tool H-class extraction as the primary engineering controls, area isolation and access control, and the residual respiratory protection. The plan sets out the air monitoring approach — conducted by a suitably qualified person against the 0.05 mg/m3 exposure standard on representative shifts — with a field to record results and a prompt to notify the regulator of any exceedance. It records the worker training in silica health risks and controls and the health monitoring arranged through a registered medical practitioner. The plan is developed in consultation with the workers and their health and safety representative, kept on site, and provided to the medical practitioner. It is signed off, and review triggers and a revision log are set so the plan is updated when the work, materials, controls or monitoring results change, and at least every 12 months. As the project runs, monitoring results and any control changes are recorded in the plan, keeping it a live and defensible document.
Related legislation
- Model Work Health and Safety Act — primary duty of care; the duty to consult workers; the reckless-conduct offence; and notifiable-incident provisions, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
- Model Work Health and Safety Regulations — the crystalline silica provisions requiring a silica risk control plan for high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance, together with the air monitoring, training and health monitoring duties, as enacted in each jurisdiction.
- Workplace exposure standard for respirable crystalline silica: 0.05 mg/m3 (eight-hour time-weighted average), which must not be exceeded; reframed as a workplace exposure limit from 1 December 2026.
- From 1 September 2024, stronger regulation of work with all materials containing at least 1 per cent crystalline silica across all industries.
- Victoria operates under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, with the silica provisions and Compliance Codes applying in place of the model instruments.
Frequently asked questions
When is a silica risk control plan required?
A silica risk control plan is required before carrying out high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance — that is, processing reasonably likely to generate airborne respirable crystalline silica above half the workplace exposure standard on a regular basis. The plan must be in place before the processing starts; it is not something prepared after work has begun or kept only for inspections.
What must the plan contain?
The plan identifies each type of high-risk processing, the crystalline silica substances involved, the hazards and who is at risk, and the control measures selected through the hierarchy of controls, and it documents how those controls are used, maintained, monitored and reviewed. It also records the air monitoring approach and results, the worker training, and the health monitoring provided through a registered medical practitioner. A single plan can cover multiple processing activities provided the specific controls for each are set out.
Who prepares the plan and must workers be involved?
The PCBU carrying out the high-risk processing is responsible for preparing the plan, and it must be developed in consultation with the workers it covers and their health and safety representatives. Consultation is not optional: workers carrying out the processing often identify practical hazards and control issues the plan must address, and the plan must be available at the workplace so it can guide them.
How does the plan relate to a SWMS?
They are different instruments addressing different requirements. The silica risk control plan is required for high-risk processing of a crystalline silica substance, while a SWMS is required for high risk construction work. Where a silica task is also high risk construction work — such as structural demolition, tunnel or confined space work — both a SWMS and a silica risk control plan are needed, and they are designed to work together rather than one replacing the other.
How often must the plan be reviewed?
The plan is a living document and must be reviewed whenever the work, the materials, the controls or the monitoring results change, after an incident, or when a worker or health and safety representative raises a concern, and at minimum at the stated interval. Reviews and updates are recorded in the plan's revision log so the document continues to reflect and control the actual exposure on the job.