What law applies
In order to understand the workplace health and safety requirements for noise, and your obligations under the law you must consider and understand relevant legislation and codes of practice.
General health and safety obligations
What you must do
Specific regulations for noise
General health and safety obligations
To understand your obligations and safety requirements you must be familiar with the:
- Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB), which imposes obligations on people at workplaces to ensure workplace health and safety
- The Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 describes what must be done to prevent or control certain hazards which cause injury, illness or death
- Codes of practice, which are designed to give practical advice about ways to manage exposure to risks common to industry.
Every Queensland employer must have workers' compensation insurance. Most employers insure with WorkCover Queensland, while a small number of large organisations have their own insurance. This insurance coverage ensures that employees injured at work receive financial support.
What you must do
It is a requirement of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 that risks must be assessed and control measures then implemented and reviewed to prevent or minimise exposure to the risks.
If the regulation describes how to prevent or minimise a risk at your workplace you must do what the regulation says. If there is a code of practice that describes how to prevent or minimise a risk at your workplace you must do what the code says or adopt and follow another way that gives the same level of protection against the risk.
If there is no regulation or code of practice about a risk at your workplace you must choose an appropriate way to manage exposure to the risk. People must, where there is no regulation or code of practice about a risk, take reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence against the risk.
See the Risk Management Code of Practice 2007 for further information.
Specific regulations for noise
People who are responsible under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 to protect workers and the public from death, injury or illness caused or created by workplaces, workplace activities or specified high risk plant include:
- employers, self-employed persons, principle contractors and workers and
- people conducting a business, undertaking or in control of fixtures, fittings or plant and equipment in workplaces and
- designers, manufactures, suppliers and those who install or erect plant and equipment and those who own specified high risk plant and equipment.
Part 12 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 states that the employer must prevent risks to the health and safety of workers from exposure to excessive noise at work. Under the regulations, 'excessive noise' is a level of noise above:
- an 8 hour equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level of 85dB(A), referenced to 20 micropascals
- a (C)-weighted sound pressure level of 140dB(C), referenced to 20 micropascals
For further information on your obligations to monitor and test noise under the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008, check appendix 1 of the Noise Advisory Standard 2004 (now known as a Code of Practice).
The Noise Advisory Standard 2004 (now known as a Code of Practice) gives practical advice about identifying sources and levels of noise and reducing exposure as a risk to health and safety. Codes of Practices provide methods to achieve elimination or reduction of risks and compliance with the Act. Other methods may be followed provided they are not of a lesser standard than that of the relevant Code of Practice.
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