From 1 July 2026, Section 26A of the WHS Act makes compliance with Safe Work Australia's Code of Practice: Welding Processes legally binding, creating a standalone offence for failure to follow it. The code establishes a comprehensive framework for managing hazards across all welding, thermal cutting, brazing, soldering and allied processes — MIG, TIG, stick, flux-cored, submerged arc, oxy-fuel, plasma cutting and laser welding — covering fume and gas management, ventilation and extraction, fire and explosion prevention, electrical safety, radiation protection, noise, PPE, hot work permit systems and confined space welding.

The code applies to every PCBU whose workers perform welding, cutting or allied thermal processes: metal fabrication shops, construction companies doing site welding, auto body repair shops, maintenance workshops, mining operations, manufacturers with in-house welding, and any business engaging welding contractors. It also extends to designers and manufacturers of welding equipment and to consumable suppliers, who must provide safety data sheets with accurate fume composition information.

Businesses must assess fume and gas hazards for each welding process based on base metal, consumable, shielding gas and parameters. Local exhaust ventilation with source capture is the primary engineering control — general ventilation alone is insufficient for most indoor welding, and extraction must capture fume within the worker's breathing zone. Hot work permits are required for all welding outside designated bays, with fire watches maintained after work ceases. Confined space welding needs forced ventilation, continuous atmospheric monitoring and emergency rescue provisions, while radiation protection requires welding screens to shield nearby workers from UV exposure.

1. Conduct fume exposure monitoring at all welding workstations for total fume and speciated metals (manganese, hexavalent chromium, nickel) against the current 1 mg/m³ fume WEL and the incoming individual metal WELs effective December 2026.
2. Audit local exhaust ventilation on all welding bays using smoke tube testing and capture velocity measurements.
3. Review hot work permit systems for welding outside designated bays, verifying fire risk assessments and fire watch documentation.
4. Update welding SWMS and procedures to reference the binding code and incoming WELs.
5. Verify health surveillance programs cover all welders with lung function testing, audiometric testing and monitoring for metal-specific effects such as manganism and chromium sensitisation.

Welding fume is an IARC Group 1 carcinogen, and inadequate fume control exposes workers to a known cancer risk. Category 2 penalties of up to $2,235,363 for a body corporate apply where workers are exposed to excessive welding fume through inadequate extraction or ventilation. The concurrent WEL reductions — manganese down 98%, nickel down 99%, hexavalent chromium down 90% — add further enforcement exposure for businesses that have not upgraded extraction and monitoring. Improvement notices are commonly issued for workshops without local exhaust ventilation, non-compliance with such notices is a separate offence, and all penalties are uninsurable in NSW since 10 June 2020.