We inform you of the recent implementation of Clause 58 of the Workplace Health & Safety Regulation, effective 01st January 2024. This is a very notable piece of legislation, as it talks to the need for Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) to provide audiometric testing to their workforce.
The legislation essentially states that workers who are supplied Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to reduce the risk of hearing loss as a control measure to a known risk – excess noise – now also need to be supplied with access to employer funded audiometric testing to continuously monitor for industrial hearing loss. The legislation requires those workers to be tested within the first three (3) months of commencing employment, and then every two (2) years thereafter.
The legislation only affects those PCBU’s whose employees are frequently working in environments where other control measures outlined in the NSW SafeWork Code of Practice have failed to reduce noise to below an exposure standard. Workers who choose to wear PPE as a personal choice or as an incidental part of their work are not affected by this legislation.
I’ve attached a fact sheet for your consideration, which also talks to our ability to support our clients with services to determine whether the workplace is deemed “excessively noisy”, and subsequent audiometric testing services should they be required. There is also a noise thermometer which is a handy tool in applying potential noise outputs to activities of daily living.
What we know is SafeWork NSW will typically run a taskforce shortly after the implementation of a piece of legislation or a change in guideline to ensure at-risk industries are abiding by their legislative requirements, so we want to make sure we are supporting you with this implementation of law. Given the clause was enacted at the start of calendar year 2024, with at worst a two (2) year requirement to test, we are of the belief safety inspectorate activity focusing on this regulation will ramp up significantly over the coming months.
At Saunders Safety & Training, we recognise this workplace risk and have the services and expertise ready to support our clients in creating a safer workplace environment.
Occupational hygiene services include noise monitoring, both static and personal, to identify equipment and operations causing harmful noise levels and consequently assess the competence of personal protective equipment supplied by an employer, such as hearing protection and earplugs. Should a resultant report identify hazardous exposure risk, further support through Saunders Safety & Training can be sourced, including but not limited to audiometric assessments of workers in line with the Regulations, and environmental studies to help reduce the volume of noise within the workplace.
Saunders Safety & Training can be contacted on (02) 9958 9009 or on info@saunderssafety.com.au should you need more information to support your
business needs.
References:
1.https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/202203/Hazardous%20Nois
e%20Infographic.pdf
2. https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2017-0404#ch.4-pt.4.1
