Compliance code: Lead

What it contains

If your work involves lead processes or lead-risk work, you must comply with specific duties and obligations under the:

• Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act)
• Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (OHS Regulations).

This compliance code provides practical guidance on how to comply with those duties and obligations. WorkSafe has developed the code in consultation with employer and employee representatives.

This guidance is particularly relevant if you are an employer or self-employed person who works with lead. It is also relevant for employees and health and safety representatives who work with lead.

The code includes information on:

• what lead is and how it gets into the body
• the health risks of working with lead
• how levels of lead in the body are measured
• what a lead process is
• what lead-risk work is
• duties for employers and employees
• how to control the risk of exposure to lead
• when health monitoring is required and what it involves

While the guidance provided in the code is not mandatory, a duty holder who complies with the code will – to the extent it deals with their duties or obligations under the OHS Act and OHS Regulations – be considered to have complied with those duties or obligations.