SafeWork NSW launched the Silica Worker Register (SWR) on 1 October 2025. This new digital system requires Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs) to register all workers undertaking high-risk crystalline silica processing.
Processing crystalline silica is considered high risk, if the risk assessment conducted under section 529CA of the WHS Regulation 2025 indicates that the activity is reasonably likely to pose a risk to the health and safety of any person at the workplace.
If it is not possible to determine whether the processing is high risk, it must be treated as high risk until proven otherwise.
Exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) can cause serious, life-threatening diseases such as silicosis and lung cancer. The SWR will help identify workers who require health monitoring, enabling early detection of health changes.
Key PCBU responsibilities
- Register each worker within 28 days of commencing high-risk silica processing work.
- Provide business details including ABN, contact information and workers compensation policy number (if applicable).
- Provide worker details including name, contact, date of birth, work commencement date and site location.
- Provide details of any health professional engaged for health monitoring other than iCare.
Note: Only workers undertaking high-risk silica processing on or after 1 October 2025 need to be registered, and PCBUs only need to register each worker once during their employment with the business.
Coal mines regulated under the Coal Industry Act 2001 are exempt from this requirement.
Further information is available in the SafeWork NSW publication Silica worker register notification and NSW Resources Position paper: Regulatory approach to crystalline silica Regulation compliance and enforcement
