Safe handling of timber preservatives

New code of practice

SafeWork NSW has published the 2026 Safe handling of timber preservatives and recently treated timber code of practice.

Read the new code

Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback. Your contribution helped inform the new code of practice.

SafeWork NSW has created the new Safe handling of timber preservatives and recently treated timber code of practice.

The new code replaces the 1991 Safe handling of timber preservatives and treated timber code of practice.

Following consultation with stakeholders, we have created a new code that better meet modern safety standards and new ways of working. The new code provides information and guidance to make sure risks from handling timber preservatives and recently treated timber are managed according to current work health and safety laws.

Tell us what you think

We are asking for your feedback to make sure the code:

is relevant
is easy to understand
supports current and emerging work practices and technologies.

Your response will help ensure the new code supports industry needs and protects workers and the community.

The survey closed Sunday 19 October 2025.

Timeline

Timeline item 1 - complete

Consultation open

Have your say on the draft Safe handling of timber preservatives and recently treated timber code of practice by Sunday 19 October 2025.
Timeline item 2 - complete

Next steps

We are using your feedback to help inform the updated version of the code of practice.
Timeline item 3 - complete

New code published

The 2026 Safe handling of timber preservatives and recently treated timber code of practice is now available.

SafeWork NSW Codes of Practice Review Team
cop.consultation@safework.nsw.gov.au

SafeWork NSW
If you have concerns about health and safety in the workplace, contact SafeWork NSW on 13 10 50.

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Privacy collection notice

1. Who we are
Your information is being collected by the SafeWork NSW Agency (SafeWork NSW). We give priority to protecting the privacy of your personal information, in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act).

2. Why we collect your personal information
SafeWork NSW is collecting your personal information for the purposes of obtaining your thoughts on the draft code of practice developed under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act).

3. The kinds of information we collect
We may collect the following information:

your name (if you choose to provide this)
your email address (if you choose to provide this)  
some limited occupational information
if you are registered to the Have Your Say site, we will be able to see the login or username, the email address, and the home town or suburb associated with your submission – even if you choose to answer the survey anonymously
any additional personal information if it is provided in free-text fields or your submission.

4. Failure to provide information
Your information is provided voluntarily, however if you choose not to provide your information, we may be unable to consider your views when updating the code of practice and may not be able to send you updates and the outcomes of this public consultation.

5. How we may use this information
We may use the information you provide in the following ways:

to create a report on the outcome of this consultation and to conduct a review of the SafeWork NSW code of practice to assist individuals in meeting standards required under the WHS Act
to share your submission (including any personal information) with SafeWork NSW
for internal administrative purposes, including providing you with occasional updates and outcomes of this public consultation (if you provide your personal information and agree for us to do so)
to support more informed policy making, program management, evaluation, research and service planning as it may facilitate more efficient service delivery for residents and businesses in NSW.
to share your submission (including any personal information) with other parts of the Department, including the Data Analytics Centre, for the purposes of conducting analysis across all consultations and to refine our engagement methodology
for other directly-related purposes.

6. Who we may share your information with
Your response, along with your name or company/organisation, may be published in a report on the outcome of this consultation, should you agree for us to do so. Your response will be published anonymously without your name, or your response will be kept private depending on what you have agreed to in this survey.

On 1 July 2025, SafeWork NSW was established as an Executive Agency related to the Department of Customer Service (DCS). DCS will continue to provide some corporate service functions to SafeWork under formal agreement and assist with our business operations by providing software, and storing data on our behalf. For an outline of how DCS manages this data, refer to the DCS Privacy Policy.

The Have Your Say website is owned and operated by DCS using software licensed from Social Pinpoint. For details of how Social Pinpoint may access personal information, refer to Social Pinpoint’s Privacy Policy.

We will not disclose your personal information to anybody unless we are authorised or permitted to do so by law or where you give consent. For a description of when this may occur, refer to our Privacy Statement.

7. Protecting your information
We will store and manage your information in accordance with the provisions of the PPIP Act. We have measures in place to help protect your personal information from loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure or other misuse.

We will only keep information for as long as we need it to fulfil the purposes it has been collected for. After which, the information will be disposed of securely in accordance with the State Records Act 1998 and any other applicable legislation.

For details of how we manage your personal information, refer to our Privacy Management Plan.

8. Your rights
Subject to certain conditions, you have the right to access or amend your personal information.

If you wish to invoke any of these rights, contact us at privacy@safework.nsw.gov.au

9. Contact us
If you would like to make a privacy enquiry or complaint, contact us at privacy@safework.nsw.gov.au

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Safe handling of timber preservatives and recently treated timber

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