Damning silicosis report calls for world-first ban on deadly engineered stone —will governments listen?
Silicosis is a work-related disease that is entirely preventable. It is on the rise globally due in part to weak regulators and companies putting profit before the safety of workers.
Respirators are the last resort ,none are 100% efficient ,they all leak . The biggest problem is dry cutting and the widespread usage of power tools ,power tools create a finer dust and being piezoelectric this freshly fractured dust attracts other nasty particles making it even more dangerous ,especially in the case of engineered stone .
Any job I was ever on ,operatives would put their masks on to cut ,then take them back off ,the guys round about would still be cutting though ! Plus dust lingers in the air ,it travels, builds up and gets everywhere no matter what kind of extraction system is used ,especially in enclosed areas such as fabrication workshops .
In this modern day and age there are computerised machines that can precision cut the stuff in sealed units ,there is no need for workers to go anywhere near dust . But these machines are expensive and workers are cheap ! Until this corporate profit before employees attitude changes ,workers will continue to get sick .
Need to start misting the air?
So what you’re saying is that PPE wasn’t used properly? Why is the solution always to ban things rather than properly enforce existing rules?
I did not mention banning materials with a silica content over a specified percentage ,this would be impossible ,silica is in everything from concrete to natural stone, wood and even plant husks and fibers .Silica is everywhere including the air we breathe .
There are many natural stones which contain 98% silica ,you would have to ban mining, most construction and civil engineering projects such as tunneling ,foundry work ,pottery etc.etc.etc. if such a ban came into place .It would be impossible to enforce.
Neither did I say that PPE was worn incorrectly ,I said that operatives remove their masks after cutting in what is considered by regulators to be a safe working environment as LEV extraction systems are running all day . Anyway you can’t eat or drink with a mask on but you are still sitting in dusty coveralls in a dust filled environment .
Obviously you have never worked in a stone yard ,fabrication workshop or construction site and silica production is not solely tied to the dusty trades ,dental technicians ,jewellers , greenhouse gardeners ,farmers and even some horse trainers are exposed to silica on a daily basis and many have succumbed to the masons cough .The list is endless
Why do you need to sit in your dusty overalls, inside the dusty fabrication shop to have your lunch? This screams “we tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas”
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Then a possible improvement is that staff facilities need to be less basic. Changing room for removing overalls to keep dust out. Then that creates a clean area, with air filtration, for breaks away from the dust for removing PPE
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-09-24/silicosis-countertop-workers-engineered-stone
These arguments read like there is no problem with abestos as long as the right precautions are made. It’s not like these countertops are en essential right of the people, especially given the risk.
These solutions would require strong regulations which, in the end, would only lead to the protection of profits for the large companies that sell them at the expense of taxpayer money. If we want to save taxpayer money and lives, prohibiting the use of these materials given their risk will be much more cost effective for society.
Yes, to protect workers you need strong regulations that are enforced. Ability to enforce rule of law is the starting point for a functioning state. Your argument is that this is not possible therefore we should just ban things. If the regulations make it so cost-prohibitive to use this stone, then it is functionally banned and we let the free market do R&D until they figure out a cost effective way within the regulations and worker protection laws, to cut the stone.
Banning things is a knee-jerk reaction that is unlikely to succeed because then you get the response “we can’t just ban everything”. Europian nations manage this strong regulation perfectly fine.
Of course everything shouldn’t be banned but everything does not lead to incurable diseases either. Working with things this dangerous and which provides no actual benefit for society is not worth regulating, consider who would pay for it.
Edit: It should also be noted that current evidence does not point towards there being a safe level of exposure to this dust. Any regulation must therefore be incredibly strict. Even if we disregard taxes, most of the economic pressure due to these regulations would befall the small businesses that cut these countertops. The large manufacturers of these materials would still be able to rake in profits while the little man pays for all the negatives.
Yip this would be ideal ,the guys over here have had a campaign on the go for over 25 years for the simple reason they were dropping like flies ,during this period they have petitioned government relentlessly for improvement in conditions as well as public awareness which would highlight all of the dangers associated with dust.
As a result the present government no longer records dusty deaths and also removed dusty diseases from the reportable list 'To cut back on red tape ’ back in 2013 .
The guesstimated number of deaths by dust in this country when all the diseases associated with occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica are are combined can only be described as staggering !
The last All Party Government Hearing in January of this year agreed with the findings and found the present situation not only shocking but completely unacceptable ,so they made many recommendations …Guess what’s changed ?
Last January’s All Party UK government report can be found further down this page .
Sorry I don’t see the UK gov report, could you link it?
Thanks for all the info btw, I know I’m focusing on the points where we disagree but the info is really interesting and informative
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Cost. It’s cheaper to just say no than to try and implement effective change.