Codes of practice for work health and safety

A code of practice provides practical guidance for your business on how to achieve health and safety standards required under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act). A code of practice also has effective ways to identify and manage risks.

Changes to the WHS Act came into effect on 1 July 2018 requiring duty holders to comply with an approved code of practice under the Act. Duty holders may, for the subject matter in the code, follow another method, such as a technical or an industry standard, if it provides an equivalent or higher standard of work health and safety to the standard required in the code.

Current codes of practice are:

• Abrasive blasting – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Cash in transit – code of practice 2011 (PDF, 762KB)
• Children and young workers – code of practice 2006 (PDF, 427KB)
• Concrete pumping – code of practice 2019 (PDF, 2MB)
• Confined spaces – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.4MB)
• Demolition work – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 673KB)
• Electrical safety codes of practice and regulation
• Excavation work – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.9MB)
• First aid in the workplace – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 491KB)
• Forest harvesting – code of practice 2007 (PDF, 1.4MB)
• Formwork – code of practice 2016 (PDF, 1.6MB)
• Foundry – code of practice 2004 (PDF, 725KB)
• Hazardous manual tasks – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.4MB)
• Horse riding schools, trail riding establishments and horse hiring establishments – code of practice 2002 (PDF, 630KB)
• How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1MB)
• How to manage work health and safety risks – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 670KB)
• How to safely remove asbestos – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 2.2MB)
• Labelling of workplace hazardous chemicals – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.3MB)
• Managing noise and preventing hearing loss at work – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.6MB)
• Managing risks of hazardous chemicals in the workplace – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.3MB)
• Managing risks in stevedoring – code of practice 2018 (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Managing risks of plant in the workplace – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.7MB)
• Managing the risk of falls at workplaces – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 4MB)
• Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work – code of practice 2022
• Managing the work environment and facilities – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 558KB)
• Manual tasks involving the handling of people – code of practice 2001 (PDF, 1.2KB)
• Mobile crane – code of practice 2006 (PDF, 1.3MB)
• Occupational diving work – code of practice 2005 (PDF, 533KB)
• Preparation of safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.1MB)
  • Model code of practice: Preparation of safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals – Safe Work Australia.
• Recreational diving, recreational technical diving and snorkelling – code of practice 2018 (PDF, 620KB)
• Rural plant – code of practice 2004 (PDF, 643KB)
• Safe design and operation of tractors – code of practice 2005 (PDF, 511KB)
• Safe design of structures – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 749KB)
• Scaffolding – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Spray painting and powder coating – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 1.2MB)
• Steel construction – code of practice 2004 (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Sugar industry – code of practice 2005 (PDF, 626KB)
  • Cane rail safety – supplement to the sugar industry code of practice 2005 (PDF, 903KB)
  • Sugar mill safety – supplement to the sugar industry code of practice 2005 (PDF, 935KB)
• Tilt-up and pre-cast construction – code of practice 2003 (PDF, 979KB)
• Tower crane – code of practice 2017 (PDF, 1.6MB)
• Traffic management for construction or maintenance work – code of practice 2008 (PDF, 817KB)
• Welding processes – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 986KB)
• Work health and safety consultation, co-operation and co-ordination – code of practice 2021 (PDF, 443KB)

Also consider...

• Find out more about work health and safety in Queensland.