Workplace Exposure Limits for flour dust

With Kylie Triggell
Images By Shutterstock
18 July 2026
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New laws surrounding flour dust limits will come into effect later this year

From December 2026 new Workplace Exposure Limits for flour dust will be implemented across Australia. In this edition of Baking Business we take a look at what these will involve, and why they’re being brought in.

From December 1, 2026, new Australian Workplace Exposure Limits (WELS) will come into effect across Australia, replacing the Workplace Exposure Standards currently in place. The updates, announced by Safe Work Australia, are aimed at reducing the incidence of adverse health effects related to flour dust inhalation, which has now been formally recognised as an airborne contaminant.

Under these Australian Workplace Health and Safety Laws no person at a workplace can be exposed to a substance or mixture in an airborne concentration that exceeds the Workplace Exposure Limit set for that particular substance or mixture.

The model Workplace Health and Safety laws, released by Safe Work Australia, will provide the national guidelines for these changes and state that from December 1, 2026, a worker must not be exposed to a level above the time weighted average, or TWA – which is the maximum average concentration of an airborne contaminant calculated for an eight-hour working day, based on a five-day working week – over the course of an eight-hour day.

Up until now flour dust was only covered under the generic “Particulates Not Otherwise Classified” category, which set exposure limits of 3-10mg/m3, however from December the revised TWA level will be set at 0.5mg/m3 [milligram of contaminant per cubic metre of air].

Although during daily work a worker may be exposed to levels higher than the TWA for short periods of time, their overall exposure during the eight hours must remain lower than the TWA.

Vitally, if someone is working more than eight hours in one day, more than 40 hours per week, or has less than 16 hours between shifts then the TWA may need to be adjusted to a lower exposure level, which can be done with assistance from a qualified professional.

So how do you make sure your business is compliant under the new framework by December 1?

The incoming flour dust laws will be monitored at a state level, so the first step would be to familiarise yourself with Safe Work Australia’s model laws before reaching out to your state’s relevant organisation, which will be able to provide more in depth guidance and information about the individual state requirements and how to go about meeting them.

Baking Association of Australia (BAA) executive officer Tony Smith has been working behind the scenes to help ready all BAA members for the new requirements, and said although it sounds obvious a review of staff training and general practices in the kitchen is another great place to start.

“It’s a matter of teaching the bakers how to undo a bag of flour. Some people just rip the top off the bag of flour and shake it in [the mixer] and move on,” he said.

“The recommendation is to slowly cut the top and gently pour the flour into the mixing bowl so it doesn’t cause a big plume of dust. Then use heavy mixers with covers on them. It’s easier said than done, however these things will stop the dust flying through the air.”

Other ways to help limit staff exposure to flour dust includes installing and maintaining good ventilation and exhaust systems within the kitchen, providing Class P1 disposable masks that comply with Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZ 1716, which should be indicated on the mask packaging, and instructing staff to wear the masks when an activity or accident results in clouds of visible dust. Then there is also ensuring safe practices like having staff sprinkle flour on countertops rather than throwing it, starting a mixer on a slow speed until the wet and dry ingredients are fully mixed, and rolling the flour bag from the bottom when tipping it so as to avoid needing to fold them when disposing of them.

The new limits will be state-by-state

The call for exposure limits

So why are these updated Workplace Exposure Limits necessary?

To put it simply, the negative health effects due to prolonged flour dust inhalation have long been known.

In fact, it was Italian physician Bernardino Ramazinni who, in the early 18^th century, first observed common respiratory symptoms among bakers that are now linked to Occupational Asthma -colloquially known as Baker’s Asthma or Baker’s Lung.

By the beginning of the 20^th century physicians noted that repeated tests showed many bakers’ respiratory tracts were hypersensitive to flour after continued exposure. It was at this time in Victorian England that a baker’s expected lifespan was just 50 years, and with their workdays lasting between 18 and 20 hours per day, six days a week, and working conditions that often saw them in small, poorly ventilated and cramped rooms, it’s easy to see why so many suffered – and died – from this chronic condition.

In a nutshell, frequent and long-term exposure to dust from cereal grains like wheat, rye and yeast can result in a range of symptoms from coughing and wheezing to shortness of breath, eye problems, rhinitis and sinusitis, and conjunctivitis, as well as changes in lung function, respiratory symptoms, increased prevalence of chronic bronchitis, and Occupational Asthma.

And far from being a rare occurrence, according to The Conversation, research has shown that globally between 15 per cent and 21 per cent of bakers suffer from Baker’s Asthma, while between 12 per cent and 26 per cent reported other symptoms like allergic rhinitis (itchy eyes) or conjunctivitis. And although Baker’s Asthma can develop even after 30 years of exposure, the majority of workers in the baking industry experience an onset of symptoms about eight years after initial exposure to flour dust.

Signs to watch out for

Physical signs of Occupational Asthma to be on the lookout for include:

A runny nose at work. This is a common symptom in the early stages.
Coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath can all appear. These may continue to occur more frequently and worsen in severity over time. The symptoms may develop within up to an hour of breathing in the dust, but it can take up to eight hours for them the appear and they may become worse during the night or following a shift.

If you suspect you have any of these symptoms speak with your employer and your doctor.

Stay up-to-date

Although the Workplace Exposure Limits will be a requirement for bakeries nationally, they will actually be implemented, regulated and enforced by the relevant individual state and territory WHS regulators.

Visit the relevant website below for more information about how to make sure your bakery is compliant.