WHS compliance
The Managing the Risks of Biological Hazards at Work Code of Practice (Safe Work Australia, March 2026) creates specific, documented duties for persons conducting a business or undertaking — including the duty to identify mould, assess HVAC performance, consult a ventilation engineer, and maintain written records of your risk management process.
ProMould provides independent, engineering-grade assessments that satisfy each of those obligations.
What the Code requires
Under the Work Health and Safety Act and the 2026 Code of Practice on biological hazards, PCBUs — building owners, facility managers, hospital operators and employers — must do all of the following in relation to mould and indoor biological hazards:
The Code requires PCBUs to actively identify biological hazards in the workplace, including visible or suspected mould, HVAC systems that may have become a source of contamination, and water-damaged building materials. Identification must be documented.
A risk assessment is required where mould or moisture hazards are identified. The Code specifies that assessments must consider the nature of harm, the likelihood of exposure, and the effectiveness of existing controls. This assessment must be recorded.
The Code specifically states that PCBUs “may need to consult a technical specialist, such as a ventilation engineer or an occupational hygienist” when mechanical ventilation is involved or where the biological hazard is airborne. For mould in buildings — almost always an HVAC or moisture problem — this means an independent engineering assessment.
Control measures — including HVAC servicing, moisture remediation, air monitoring, and ventilation strategy changes — must be selected, implemented and recorded. The Code identifies HVAC systems that are not “appropriately cleaned and tested” as a direct source of biological hazard risk.
After remediation or a change to controls, the Code requires PCBUs to review whether the measures were effective. Post-remediation verification by an independent specialist is the standard way to demonstrate this.
Risk assessments must be kept current. The Code requires review after any change in workplace conditions — including water damage, flooding, HVAC shutdown, or building fit-out. A historic assessment is not sufficient if conditions have changed.
How ProMould maps to each obligation
Independent means independent
The Code places the duty of care on the PCBU — not on the remediator, not on the cleaner, and not on the HVAC contractor.
If your risk assessment is produced by the same company that will perform the remediation, it is not independent. A court examining your WHS compliance — or an inspector issuing an improvement notice — will look at whether your assessment was genuinely objective.
ProMould does not perform remediation works. We do not sell HVAC maintenance contracts. We have no commercial interest in the outcome of our findings. Our reports are independent by design, and that independence is the foundation of their value as compliance documents.
The Code creates an explicit reassessment obligation after change events. If any of the following have occurred since your last mould or moisture assessment, a new assessment may be required.
Request an incident assessmentOur incident assessment is scoped to the change event — typically faster to mobilise and narrower in scope than a full engineering assessment, but producing the same structured written report and the same standard of documentation.
What your report contains
Every ProMould assessment produces a structured written report. For WHS compliance purposes, the report documents:
The report is yours. It becomes part of your WHS risk management record — the paper trail that demonstrates your duty of care was exercised by a qualified, independent specialist.
Who this applies to
The Code covers all workplaces under the WHS Act and WHS Regulations. In practice, the buildings most exposed to documented compliance obligations are:
Where the duty of care for vulnerable persons is highest, IPC obligations run alongside WHS duties, and HVAC performance directly affects clinical risk.
Where PCBUs (employers) and building owners share overlapping duties, and HVAC systems are the most common source of indoor biological hazard.
Where moisture sources are more complex, and exposure through contaminated air or materials is a regular operational risk.
Where the building owner and each occupying PCBU both carry obligations, and a shared HVAC system creates shared exposure.
About the Code
Managing the Risks of Biological Hazards at Work is an approved Code of Practice issued by Safe Work Australia in March 2026 under section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act.
Approved Codes of Practice are admissible in court proceedings under the WHS Act. A court may regard the Code as evidence of what a PCBU knew — or should have known — about a hazard or risk. Failure to follow the Code does not automatically constitute a breach, but it significantly weakens a PCBU’s position if a WHS incident occurs.
The Code explicitly names mould and fungi as biological hazards requiring active risk management, identifies HVAC systems as a potential source of biological hazard where not maintained, and names ventilation engineers and occupational hygienists as the technical specialists PCBUs should consult.
Tell us about the building, the nature of the concern, and the regulatory or operational context. We’ll scope an assessment that satisfies the obligation and produces documentation you can rely on.
