Biological Hazards Gaining National Focus: Why Q Fever and Airborne Risks Are the New WHS Frontline

Blood, mud, and shit. That was the reality of my inspections in abattoirs. You’d walk through the gates and get hit by the metallic tang of blood, the noise of animals being herded, and the chaos of moving machinery.

I’ll never forget one site where a bloke was paid good money to stand at the kill floor and say a prayer over each beast as they went down the line. Tradition and commerce in the same breath – while around him, workers risked slips in congealed muck, crushes from panicked stock, and near misses with heavy vehicles moving through tight laneways.

It wasn’t just the physical hazards. Abattoirs have a culture all of their own, and let’s be blunt, some of it was “old school.” Safety was seen as paperwork more than practice, and many operators figured broken bones and bloodied coveralls were just part of the trade.

Then there was the invisible threat: disease.

I had to get the Q fever vaccination to do the job. If you haven’t had it, you’re not missing much. First comes the blood and skin test, a scratch and a wait, then, depending on the reaction, a follow-up jab. Painful, invasive, and hardly confidence-inspiring when you realise it’s necessary just to step foot on the site. Q fever isn’t a theoretical risk; it’s a brutal, highly infectious disease that has dogged the industry for decades.

Those inspections opened my eyes. Serious injuries were daily possibilities, but so too were the biological hazards most employers didn’t want to think about. And it’s exactly those hidden hazards that are now stepping into the national spotlight.

From Steel Caps to Surgical Masks: The Shift in WHS Focus

Workplace health and safety in Australia has always leaned heavily on the visible and the immediate: falls from height, guarding breaches, forklifts clipping pedestrians. That focus was necessary and overdue, but it left gaps. The unseen risks, airborne pathogens, infectious diseases, microbial contaminants, rarely made the front page of a regulator’s prosecution summary.

That’s changing. The twin drivers: a resurgence of Q fever concerns in South Australia, and Safe Work Australia’s consultation on a national Code of Practice for managing airborne and infectious diseases. Together, they signal a cultural shift.

What was once considered niche or “health sector only” is now core WHS business.

Q Fever: The Old Enemy That Won’t Stay Down

South Australia’s recent alert on Q fever is a reminder that the disease still lurks in our abattoirs, farms, and transport yards. Caused by Coxiella burnetii, it’s spread through dust contaminated with animal fluids. It only takes a microscopic dose to knock someone flat.

The symptoms mimic a savage flu, such as fever, sweats, headaches, muscle aches. But the real kicker is the long tail: pneumonia, hepatitis, chronic fatigue, and in some cases, ongoing heart and liver problems. Fatalities are rare, but long-term disability is not.

Vaccination is available, but like I said, it’s a process you don’t forget. It’s also a process that too many employers avoid, whether through cost, logistics, or a “she’ll be right” mentality. The result? A workforce still exposed to a disease we’ve known about, and had tools to control, for decades.

Airborne and Infectious Risks: Now on the Books

Safe Work Australia’s draft Code of Practice is designed to close that cultural blind spot. Once finalised, it will give inspectors a ready-made benchmark for what’s considered “reasonably practicable” when it comes to infectious hazards.

Key themes in the draft include:

• Assessing and documenting risks of airborne or infectious exposure.

• Engineering solutions: ventilation, air filtration, dust suppression.

• Administrative measures: vaccination programs, health monitoring, hygiene protocols.

• Clear outbreak response plans: isolation, cleaning, communication.

• Recordkeeping to prove you’ve done the work.

The Code is modelled on the same hierarchy of control we already know inside out, but applied to germs, not gears.

Where the Risks Really Are

It’s tempting to pigeonhole infectious hazards as a “meat and hospitals” issue. That’d be a mistake.

The risks are far wider:

Agriculture: Farmers, shearers, vets, and seasonal workers face direct exposure to livestock.

Transport and logistics: Drivers moving animals, carcasses, waste, or contaminated freight.

Aged care and childcare: Constant close contact with vulnerable populations.

Construction and maintenance: Legionella in cooling towers, mould spores in demolition jobs.

Food processing and warehousing: High-density workforces in enclosed facilities, where one cough can spread fast.

Even if your business doesn’t fit neatly in those categories, your supply chain might. If you employ contractors, casuals, or labour hire, their exposure risks become yours to manage.

Inspecting Through the Lens of Biology

Back when I walked abattoir floors, the regulator’s guidance on biological risks was vague at best. We relied on piecemeal industry codes and the occasional public health directive. That lack of structure often meant employers put it in the “too hard” basket.

Now, with a national Code on the way, the excuse book is closing. Inspectors will expect to see infectious risk assessments, vaccination records, and ventilation reports in the same folder as machine guarding SOPs and forklift traffic plans.

And to be fair, it’s overdue. Workers shouldn’t have to rely on blind luck or their own immune systems to avoid debilitating diseases.

What Compliance Should Look Like

If you’re an employer, the practical steps are clear:

1. Identify and Assess

Map where exposure to animals, fluids, soil, water systems, or crowded spaces occurs.

Consider seasonal and geographic variations such as dust storms, calving seasons, or outbreaks.

2. Control at the Source

Improve ventilation and air filtration in enclosed spaces.

Suppress dust in yards, laneways, and processing areas.

Redesign tasks to reduce contact with animals or contaminated waste.

3. Support Workers’ Health

Provide vaccinations for Q fever, flu, and other relevant diseases.

Run pre-employment screening for at-risk roles.

Track health monitoring and keep it confidential but accessible.

4. Embed Knowledge

Train workers in recognising symptoms and reporting early.

Challenge the “tough it out” culture. Infectious people shouldn’t be heroes at work.

5. Prepare for Outbreaks

Have a playbook for isolation, deep cleans, and communication.

Coordinate with health authorities where required.

The Enforcement Trajectory

Just as psychosocial hazards are now firmly in the inspectorate’s toolkit, biological risks are moving the same way.

Expect questions like:

Do you have a vaccination program in place?

What’s the air exchange rate in this facility?

How do you monitor and record biological hazards?

If your answers are blank stares or “we’ve never thought about it,” don’t be surprised if that visit ends badly.

My Take: Time to Step Up

Biological hazards don’t look dramatic until they hit. A broken leg on the kill floor is obvious. A workforce quietly debilitated by Q fever or seasonal flu is less visible, but just as damaging.

From where I stand, here’s the practical play:

• Get Q fever and other relevant vaccinations sorted – make it routine, not optional.

• Fix the air quality in your sheds, plants, and offices. It’s not just compliance, it’s comfort.

• Stop treating sickness as weakness – build a culture where staying home protects the team.

• Document everything. If an outbreak happens, you’ll want evidence that you did your part.

I didn’t enjoy that Q fever jab, and I sure didn’t enjoy walking through floors slick with blood and muck. But those experiences taught me that invisible hazards are often the ones we underestimate most. Now the regulators are catching up, and the expectation is clear: manage airborne and infectious risks with the same rigour as any other hazard.

Conclusion

The national WHS conversation is evolving. Physical risks aren’t going away, but biological hazards are stepping out of the shadows. With Q fever back in the headlines and a national Code of Practice taking shape, organisations that fail to act will find themselves in the firing line.

For too long, infectious risks have been seen as either “part of the job” or “someone else’s problem.” That era is ending. The future of workplace safety isn’t just about stopping slips and guarding machines. It’s about protecting workers from the biological hazards, often unseen, but just as dangerous, that have been hiding in plain sight all along.