The NSW Government has introduced greater fines and maximum prison time for manufacturers found breaching Work Health and Safety (WHS) regulations relating to silica and asbestos protection.  

NSW workplaces that are found to have severely breached WHS laws with “category one offences” will now face a maximum fine of $2.1 million, nearly three times higher than the current limit, as well as a maximum imprisonment time of 10 years, up from five years.  

The new rules also aim to clamp down on employers “gaming WHS laws” by banning the use of insurance to cover WHS fines as a “cost of doing business”.  

NSW Work Health and Safety and Industrial Relations Minister Sophie Cotsis says the Government will also establish a silica register to track and trace workers early in their exposure to help provide them with healthcare intervention and improve research into dust diseases.  

“These new laws demonstrate just how seriously this Government takes keeping workers safe in NSW,” Ms Cotsis said.  

“Everyone deserves a safe place to work, everyone deserves to come home safely to their family and loved ones.”   

The NSW Government says it will work to empower SafeWork in issuing “prohibited asbestos notices,” to workplaces and allow for the permanent removal of the material.  

Commonwealth WHS Ministers are expected to meet in the coming weeks to discuss regulatory frameworks and renewed calls for a ban on manufactured stone products, which have been directly linked to dust diseases such as silicosis.