Silica in the News
Silicosis is a debilitating lung disease – incurable, often progressive and in many cases fatal – caused by breathing in silica dust. In the end stages of the disease, you’re unable to breathe and you literally suffocate.
It’s a preventable disease but there’s been a dramatic spike in cases, with a particular outbreak among young stonemasons in their 20s and 30s. Read more: thenewdaily.com.au
Work on Northconnex was stopped for four days in September, 2019, following a dangerous dust event, the State Opposition has claimed.
Shadow Minister for Finance and Small Business, Daniel Mookhey, said data obtained from SafeWork NSW showed that NorthConnex and Westconnex were issued 14 infringements between July, 2018, and September, 2019, for breaking workplace safety laws after exposing tunnelling workers to high levels of silica dust. Read more: coastcommunitynews.com.au
MPs have been told that immediate action is needed to prevent deaths and illnesses caused by exposure to respirable crystalline silica, which is a risk to 2.2 million workers in the construction industry alone. Read more: personneltoday.com
An estimated 2.2 million workers could be at risk of aggressive respiratory diseases, including silicosis, cancer and the risk of tuberculosis, in the construction industry alone.
BOHS says that around 500 UK construction workers die each year just from silicosis, a disease listed by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine as also increasing vulnerability for those infected by Covid-19. Silica is linked to the estimated 4,000 deaths a year from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and it is believed 75,000 cases could be prevented if action was taken.
Read more: theconstructionindex.co.uk
Construction of two of Sydney’s multibillion-dollar motorway tunnels was halted, it can be revealed, due to serious health risks to workers. Read more:
The risk of exposure to dangerous silica dust for workers inside two of Sydney’s motorway tunnels was so high that construction was halted for four days, it can be revealed. news.com.au
NSW Labor are pushing for amendments to work health and safety legislation to protect stonemasons from the lung disease silicosis.
The bill introduces a number of preventative measures, including the establishment of a dust diseases register. Read more: 2gb.com
Dozens of workers on the WestConnex Project may have been exposed to a toxic cocktail of poisonous chemicals including asbestos, silica dust and lead in a shocking safety breach uncovered by the CFMEU NSW. Read more: miragenews.com
The Queensland government give thousands of metal mine and quarry workers free chest x-rays and restrict dust levels at mines in a bid to cut high levels of lung disease.
Mines and Natural Resources Minister Anthony Lynham says the mandatory measures implemented on Tuesday are aimed at protecting workers from illnesses like black lung disease and silicosis.
Queensland has recorded 169 cases of mine-dust lung disease since 1984, but only nine cases were recorded before 2014, according to state government data. Read more:au.news.yahoo.com
Silica hazards and other dangers observed at a Texas manufacturer of stone countertops led federal safety inspectors to propose $219,679 in fines—penalties that come little more than a year after a fatal accident that resulted in citations against the company. Read more: bloomberglaw.com
Nieuwegein, The Netherlands — On-the-job exposure to silica, beryllium and certain other metals may be linked to the inflammatory disease sarcoidosis, results of a recent study led by Dutch researchers suggest.
For people who have sarcoidosis, inflammatory cells collect and grow in parts of the body – typically the lungs and lymph nodes … Read more: safetyandhealthmagazine.com
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