← All guides silica

Silica SWMS: what's changed and what your document must show (2026)

Cutting concrete, stone, brick or tile? Here's what the new crystalline-silica rules mean for your SWMS — the controls to include, and how a SWMS can do double duty as your control documentation.

Updated June 2026

If your work creates dust from concrete, stone, brick, tile or masonry, the rules changed fast — and a recycled SWMS from last year probably doesn’t reflect them. Here’s the plain-English version.

What changed

  • Engineered stone is banned. From 1 July 2024, manufacturing, supplying, processing and installing engineered stone is prohibited across Australia.
  • 1% is the new line. From 1 September 2024, work with materials containing ≥1% crystalline silica is treated as higher-risk and attracts extra controls and documentation.
  • Registers are coming. From 1 October 2025, NSW requires high-risk crystalline-silica work to be recorded — the expectation to show your controls keeps rising.

This is general information based on current Safe Work Australia and state regulator guidance. Requirements vary by state and change over time — always confirm against your own regulator. It isn’t legal advice.

Why your SWMS is the document that matters

For many silica-generating tasks, a compliant Safe Work Method Statement can capture the control measures you’re required to document — so instead of juggling separate paperwork, one well-built SWMS does double duty.

The controls a silica SWMS should show

A credible silica SWMS reflects the hierarchy of controls, not just a dust mask:

  1. Eliminate / substitute — use pre-cut or pre-fabricated materials sized off-site; choose lower-silica products where one exists.
  2. Engineering — water suppression (wet cutting) at the point of dust generation, and on-tool dust extraction (H-class / LEV) on grinders, saws and corers. Never dry-cut.
  3. Administrative — air monitoring against the 0.05 mg/m³ (8-hour TWA) workplace exposure standard, respiratory health monitoring for exposed workers, exclusion zones, no dry sweeping or compressed air for clean-up, and training.
  4. PPE — fit-tested P2 or P3 respirators, eye protection and coveralls — as the last line, not the first.

The five-minute version

Pick your trade, tick the silica task, and the controls above are pre-loaded for you to tweak and sign — then export a clean, audit-ready PDF.