Breathe more easily | British Safety Council
www.britsafe.org
Breathing in silica dust during tasks like cutting and sanding concrete, rock and stone can cause debilitating and often fatal lung diseases – making it vital employers prevent or reduce exposure.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8195265

There are several reasons why exposure to silica dust remains a problem in British workplaces:

The extensive use of power tools (like concrete breakers and rotary tools for cutting and polishing stone), but a poor understanding of the importance of measures like using on-tool air extraction to capture silica dust at source to prevent it being breathed in; using on-tool water suppression to reduce dust emissions; and adopting other control measures, such as the use of local exhaust ventilation, like an enclosed booth that extracts dust from the air

An over-reliance on respiratory protective equipment – such as respirators – as the main control measure

Since 2013, silicosis is no longer a notifiable (i.e. reportable) disease under the UK’s RIDDOR reporting regulations, making it hard to track and assess the problem nationally

https://www.britsafe.org/safety-management/2022/breathe-more-easily