Silica worker register (SWR) notification

No. Only workers who undertake high risk crystalline silica substance processing must be notified to the Register by their employer.

Processing of a crystalline silica substance involves tasks such as cutting, drilling, grinding or polishing. This work causes very fine particles of crystalline silica dust to be released. This dust is known as respirable crystalline silica, or RCS.

If inhaled, RCS can cause serious health issues depending how much dust a worker breathes in and for how long. In its solid form, crystalline silica is not harmful.

PCBUs must perform a risk assessment to determine if processing of a crystalline silica substance is high risk.

Processing a CSS is high risk if it’s reasonably likely to result in a risk to the health of a person at the workplace.

If you’re unsure, assume the work is high risk until proven otherwise.

More information on how to complete a risk assessment is available on the SafeWork NSW website.

Health monitoring, or health screening, ensures any changes to the worker’s health can be detected as early as possible. Screening is recommended to be conducted every 12 months as best practice.

Health monitoring must be provided if workers are involved in any ongoing work that creates RCS dust and there is significant risk to their health, even if respiratory protection is used to control exposure. Health monitoring may also be required for workers who are regularly in the vicinity of RCS or exposed in other ways, like cleaning work areas or equipment where the dust is present. If you’re unsure if there is a risk to workers, you should get specialist advice from an occupational hygienist.

Health monitoring must be carried out by or under the supervision of a medical practitioner with experience in health monitoring.

It may involve screening, a medical questionnaire, respiratory function tests, chest x-rays, or a CT scan.

PCBUs have a legal requirement to provide health monitoring for at-risk workers undertaking high risk crystalline silica processing, as listed in Schedule 14 of the WHS Regulation 2025. Failure to provide health monitoring to workers may result in compliance action by SafeWork NSW, including fines and prosecution.

No. Being on the register doesn’t necessarily mean a worker has been exposed to dangerous levels of RCS or is going to develop an illness – it’s a preventative measure only to track and ensure health monitoring is being provided to at-risk workers.

PCBUs with workers undertaking high risk processing of crystalline silica substances must submit information on these workers to the Register.

PCBUs are only required to register workers they direct or allow to carry out the processing of a CSS that is high risk. For example, principal contractors on a construction site are not required to register the workers of a subcontractor as it is the subcontractor that is directing or allowing those workers to carry out the processing of a CSS that is high risk. The subcontractor is responsible for registering their workers, in this example. It is recommended that a principal contractor confirms with its subcontractor(s) that they have met their obligation of notifying to the Silica Worker Register.

Health monitoring must be organised and paid for by employers. In the case of labour hire workers, or group training organisation apprentices, the host and labour hire company/group training organisation must first agree on who will organise and pay for the health monitoring. icare provides subsidised health screening services to eligible employers.

PCBUs are also required to register workers who travel interstate into NSW to complete HRCSS processing activities.

The Silica Worker Register is an online notification form accessed through the SafeWork NSW portal via the SafeWork website.

PCBUs will need to create a login and a profile, if they don’t already have one. The Register opens 1 October 2025.

Yes. A bulk upload function is available for PCBUs to notify large numbers of workers to the Register. PCBUs can request a bulk upload template through the Register portal and it will be issued via email. Completed templates can be uploaded through the Register portal. PCBUs must request a new template each time they wish to submit a bulk upload to the Register.

If you have made a submission or have requested a bulk upload template but have not received a confirmation email, please allow a few minutes for the system to generate it. If you have still not received the email, please refresh your inbox, check your junk folder, and check your firewall settings are not blocking the attachment from being received.

If you are still experiencing issues and for all other technical support, please contact SafeWork NSW via 131050 or  contact@safework.nsw.gov.au

No, there is no information provided to the Register about health monitoring results.

No. PCBUs only notify each relevant worker once to the Register and provide the location at the time of notification. PCBUs do not need to re-notify workers to the Register if the site location where the worker is undertaking high risk processing changes. If the worker is working across multiple sites, the PCBU should select one site as the location address when making the notification.

Workers who were undertaking high risk processing work but stopped this work prior to 1 October 2025 do not need to be notified to the Register. Only workers who were undertaking this work on or after 1 October 2025 need to be notified to the Register.

Notifications to the Register can only be made within 28 days after the high risk processing work has commenced. PCBUs cannot notify using a future date.

PCBUs of underground mines (such as mineral mines), must register workers they direct or allow to undertake high risk silica processing. PCBUs who are under the jurisdiction of the Coal Industry Act 2001 are not required to notify their workers to the Register.

High risk silica processing in underground mines (such as mineral mines) is not required to be identified as being part of a tunnelling project when notified to the Register.

Workers must be notified to the Register under the PCBU that they are directly employed by (i.e. the PCBU name that appears on their pay slips). As long as the relevant business entity for the workers you are registering is covered under the policy, it will not impact the notification if the overarching policy is under the parent business entity name.

No. The data will not be publicly available. Data may be shared with other Government agencies as required and permitted under legislation.

If a PCBU has provided the correct email address, workers will receive an automated email advising them of their inclusion on the Register. It is recommended that PCBUs advise relevant workers that they will be added to the Register prior to registration.

Workers must be registered each time they commence high-risk processing work for a new employer. This means that if they change employer, the new PCBU must register the worker under their profile. PCBUs only need to register a worker once during their employment.

If a worker is identified as requiring health monitoring, the icare Dust Diseases Care team will send an email to their employer to offer screening through icare.

It is the responsibility of PCBUs to respond to the email and book an employee in for screening.

Under the WHS Regulations 2025, PCBUs are required to provide health monitoring to workers working with hazardous chemicals such as respirable crystalline silica. It’s the PCBU’s responsibility to arrange health screening for their workers. The PCBU can opt to use a private screening provider or icare’s services  , or a combination of these providers depending on the PCBU’s preferences.

If a PCBU has registered on the Register and is contacted by icare, it may mean health monitoring records do not exist for those workers or have exceeded 12 months since their last check.

icare can be contacted on 1800 550 027

As icare provides the only subsidised health monitoring service to workers in NSW, wait times may be experienced.

If PCBUs are regional and wish to use the Mobile Lung Health Screening service, wait times can range from 6 – 12 months depending on the time of year.

icare will make every effort to get to as many workplaces as possible throughout the year by booking public site days across NSW. These locations can be found on the icare website. Google ‘icare Lung Health Checks’ to find out more.

The Kent Street Clinic is also available to workers and wait times for screening are from 4 – 8 weeks.

icare can be contacted on 1800 550 027 between 9am and 5pm, Monday-Friday. Workers or employers can also visit icare’s website How to Request a Lung Screening Service.

Once a worker has been screened, the PCBU will receive a health monitoring report with the findings of any test results. The PCBU must give the worker a copy of this report and keep the report for at least 30 years. If the report recommends any changes to a worker’s duties, the PCBU must implement them in consultation with the worker and medical practitioner.

The PCBU must also provide a copy of the report to SafeWork NSW if the medical practitioner advises a worker may have contracted an injury or illness as a result of exposure, or if they recommend any remedial action including stopping a worker from doing a particular task.

Initial health monitoring requirements are regulated by SafeWork NSW under the WHS Regulation 2025. The subsequent frequency of screening is determined by the level of exposure and guided by the respiratory physician providing the health monitoring service.

icare provides a health monitoring service for PCBUs, their workers, and clients diagnosed with a dust disease. While icare reports diagnosed cases of silicosis to the National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry (NORDR), it is important to note that icare is not a legislative authority.

If icare provides health monitoring for workers registered on the Register, health records and results of health screening will not be shared with SafeWork NSW.

If health monitoring for a worker returns an adverse health monitoring report, the PCBU is legally required to notify SafeWork NSW. This is a separate process to the Silica Worker Register notification. Information on how to submit an adverse health monitoring report can be found on the SafeWork NSW website.

SafeWork NSW is committed to ensuring that all the personal and health information it holds is managed securely and in line with the Information Protection Principles of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Privacy Principles of the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.

The silica worker register and the data and information management procedures that enable it were developed in careful consideration of the principles and legislation and were subject to the recommendations provided by an external and comprehensive privacy impact assessment. Workers whose personal and health information is collected for the silica worker register are encouraged to review the Privacy Collection Notice for details about how their information is collected, used and managed.