The incoming limit for polyvinyl chloride respirable dust is an 8-hour average of 1 mg/m³. There was no previous exposure standard on this respirable line. Exposure standards remain the compliance reference for the wider list until 30 November 2026. From 1 December 2026 the new limit applies once the WHS regulator gives it effect.
The published change has no short-term exposure limit. Do not add one. Open tipping and bag changes still need task samples and an engineering note. They do not need a made-up peak number.
Do not report this dust as vinyl chloride monomer, and do not mix in tetrafluoroethylene. Polymer dust and the monomer are different substances. If both exist on site, they need different files.
The sampler has to be respirable
Say in the plan that the fraction is respirable and that the comparator is 1 mg/m³. An inhalable “general dust” result, including anything aimed at 10 mg/m³, does not speak to this limit. If you co-locate an inhalable sampler for another reason, label it as not the comparator.
Agree with the laboratory how PVC dust will be treated gravimetrically and what happens when other dusts are present. No historical standard on this line does not mean there was no exposure.
Which days to attend
Tip, weigh and charge of dry blend set one group. Bagging and big-bag changes often set another, because the open minutes are longer. Extrusion only belongs with them when hopper fill or purge actually opens the system. Silo, cyclone and filter work, regrind, and night clean-down are easy to miss if the survey calendar is built around a quiet extrusion shift.
Attend on a day when tip or bagging happens. Record tip rate, whether local exhaust was on, bag type, and what respiratory protection was worn. Task samples during tip and bag change show capture. Time-weight them into the shift and state the assumption for the rest of the day. Static samples at the tip point are diagnostics, not a personal average.
Check cyclone or respirable-head condition and flow against the method before you start. Field blanks and pump records matter at 1 mg/m³.
How to read the result
Compare respirable averages to 1 mg/m³. State the detection limit against that figure. From 1 December 2026, once in force, the limit is not to be exceeded for people at the workplace.
Keep the PVC respirable line named separately from any inhalable general-dust programme in the same pack. Night clean-down and filter change can need their own group even when day-shift production samples are low.
Recommendations should start with enclosure and extraction at tip and bagging. Respiratory protection is not the first control to escalate.
Before you mobilise
Confirm the brief says polyvinyl chloride, respirable dust, 1 mg/m³. Confirm the sampling head matches the method. Confirm tip or bagging will occur on the days you attend. Confirm the client knows a general-dust figure of 10 mg/m³ is not the December comparator for this line. Confirm vinyl chloride, if it is on site, will be reported under its own name.
Sources
- Safe Work Australia, *Changes to Workplace Exposure Limits – May 2025*: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-05/changes_to_workplace_exposure_limits_-_may_2025.pdf
- Safe Work Australia, changes between exposure standards and exposure limits: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/managing-health-and-safety/workplace-exposure-limits-airborne-contaminants/changes-between-wes-and-wel
Next step
Occ Hygiene can design a respirable survey against 1 mg/m³ that includes tip and bagging days.
