SafeWork New South Wales has officially released its Annual Regulatory Statement which outlines their key areas for attention across the 2025-2026 financial year.

The annual statement is a micro-element of the broader 5-year NSW strategic plan and the 10-year national safety strategy, whose purpose is to ensure key focus areas align with the “changing contexts” and emerging evidence” of the NSW workplace environment.

From 1 July 2025, the 2025–26 financial year will bring significant changes to the enforcement of workplace safety laws across NSW. SafeWork NSW will become the state’s primary work health and safety regulator, introducing expanded measures such as an increase in field inspectors—particularly with a focus on psychosocial risks—and a commitment to building capacity and capability to improve psychological health and safety outcomes in workplaces. The five 5 regulatory priorities for the 2025-26 period includes:

• Falls from heights: “…one of the most common causes of workplace fatalities” and of the 274 workplace fatalities across 2019-2023, falls from height accounted for 36 of these fatalities.
• Harms to workers in the health care and social assistance sector: accounts for “one in five claims across all industries in NSW” with further focus on musculoskeletal injuries and psychological injuries noting their high and growing prevalence within the sector.
• Managing psychosocial risks at work including sexual harassment: largely appears to be focused on education action to increase awareness and understanding among employers and implement actions such as control measures and work design to meet legislative standards.
• Exposure to hazardous substances including asbestos, crystalline silica and welding fumes: With an average of 4,000 asbestos-related disease fatalities each year, and welding fumes now classed as a Group 1 carcinogen, there will be increased focus on compliance to stem the growing morbidity and mortality rates.
• Injury from mobile plant, vehicles, or fixed machinery: along with falling from heights and being hit by moving objects, vehicle accidents account for the highest frequency of fatality across Australia.

Saunders Safety & Training would urge NSW businesses to read through the annual statement and consider how this focus areas could impact the operations of its business. The regulator makes it clear they will want to “work closely with these businesses to drive meaningful change and ensure lasting compliance through our High-Risk Workplaces and Repeat Offenders program. From 1 January 2026, names of work health and safety duty holders in this program will be published on our website under new legislative reporting requirements. Exiting the program will rely on the duty holder achieving outcomes aligned with timed milestones.” This speaks to not only the financial risks, but the cultural, reputational, and legal risks that come with not meeting compliance standards.

For more information, please reach out to the team at SS&T or your dedicated Warren Saunders Insurance Brokers Account Manager.