Tunnels under construction code of practice review

Consultation is now closed on the review of the Tunnels under construction code of practice.

Thank you to everyone who gave their feedback. We have used your comments to inform an updated version of the code of practice, which we will share with you soon.

SafeWork NSW has drafted the new Health and safety risk management of tunnels and shafts in construction code of practice. This will replace the 2006 Tunnels under construction code of practice.

For updates on the new code, visit the draft Tunnels and shafts in construction code of practice consultation page.

Timeline

Timeline item 1 - complete

Open

Have your say on the Tunnels under construction code of practice by 5pm Monday 19 June 2023.
Timeline item 2 - complete

Next steps

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

Have your say on the draft Tunnels and shafts in construction code of practice by midday Friday 28 November 2025.
Timeline item 4 - incomplete

Final steps

Find updates on the new Tunnels and shafts in construction code of practice consultation page.

Documents and resources

This consultation follows the statutory review of the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act. The findings included reviewing all pre-WHS Act codes of practice.

Refer to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 Statutory Review Report – June 2017.

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

Have your say

Tunnels under construction

Consultation is now closed on the review of the Tunnels under construction code of practice.

Thank you to everyone who gave their feedback. We have used your comments to inform an updated version of the code of practice, which we will share with you soon.

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