Unions warn of silicosis epidemic from the processing of engineered stone products

Federal and state ministers of occupational health and safety will next week consider banning popular engineered stone products because of links to an incurable lung disease. Silicosis can be caused by inhaling particles of crystalline silica, and more than six hundred thousand workers in stone-cutting industries are exposed to the dust.

H έκθεση στην κρυσταλλική σκόνη διοξειδίου του πυριτίου προκαλεί αυξημένο κίνδυνο ανάπτυξης καρκίνου του πνεύμονα και άλλων αυτοάνοσων ασθενειών

KEY POINTS

• Silicosis is an incurable lung disease
• It is caused by particles of crystalline dioxide
• Six hundred thousand workers are exposed to it

When a biopsy revealed Jo McNeill had a potentially fatal lung disease, the quarry administration worker was stunned.

“I was told I had silicosis and I had no idea what silicosis was. I had been working in admin for just under 10 years and I had worked in safety. I ran safety meetings. I did everything in toolbox safety. How did I not know what crystalline silica dust is. Now I have silicosis. And this is definitely preventable”, she said

The site safety representative worked in a building as far as ninety metres away from the crushing machine where silica dust was produced.

The 37-year-old single mother-of-two now faces an uncertain future.