The NSW Government has launched a new Silica Worker Register (SWR) to strengthen workplace safety and monitor the health of workers at risk of exposure to crystalline silica dust.
The register will track workers engaged in high-risk activities such as cutting, drilling, grinding, or polishing materials containing crystalline silica substances (CSS).
Under the new Work Health and Safety Amendment (Silica Worker Register) Regulation 2025, businesses must register all high-risk workers within 28 days of their employment. The move follows alarming figures showing 516 cases of silicosis and 36 deaths in New South Wales since 2017. SafeWork NSW has issued nearly 2,500 improvement notices and 181 prohibition notices over the same period.
Minister for work health and safety Sophie Cotsis said the new register would play a vital role in the fight against silicosis.
“The Minns Labor Government is committed to ensuring workers across the state are safe at work and the new Silica Worker Register is an important step in the fight against silicosis,” Cotsis said.
“The new register will help us target high-risk areas, minimise exposure, inform health screening services and improve health outcomes for workers across the state.”
The register builds on a series of government actions to reduce silica-related risks, including a national ban on engineered stone products containing more than one per cent crystalline silica, the creation of the Tunnelling Dust Safety Taskforce, and a dedicated silica unit within SafeWork NSW.
Additional funding includes $5 million for silicosis research and $2.5 million for the icare Lung Bus, a mobile clinic providing lung health assessments across the state.
SafeWork NSW Commissioner Janet Schorer said the initiative would help detect health changes early.
“The silica worker register is a valuable measure to ensure at-risk workers are receiving health monitoring and ensure any changes to an individual worker’s health are detected as early as possible,” Schorer said.
Icare CEO Geniere Apin welcomed the initiative as a key step in protecting at-risk workers, while Australian Workers’ Union NSW branch secretary Tony Callinan called it “an important win for worker safety.”
“A silica register will mean no worker falls through the cracks. Whether they’re on a tunnel site or in manufacturing, employers and government will now have no excuse not to act to prevent silicosis,” Callinan said.
