The Australian Workers’ Union, the CFMEU, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions recently launched a campaign calling for urgent regulatory action to stop rising cases of silicosis, an ‘occupational lung disease’ caused by breathing crystalline silica dust, causing lung inflammation and fibrosis. There is no cure.
Lung Foundation Australia has also called for public consultation on the National Silicosis Prevention Strategy (NSPS) and accompanying National Action Plan (NAP).
Associate Professor Jane Bourke, Head of Respiratory Pharmacology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and Fellow of the The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, commented:
“Silicosis is a devastating occupational lung disease affecting increasing numbers of workers breathing in fine silica dust, causing inflammation and scarring in the lungs. Silica dust particles are 100 times smaller than a grain of sand so can travel deep into the lung to cause damage.”
“Silicosis is not only affecting stonemasons but also workers in construction industries including quarrying and tunnelling of sandstone. Engineered stone used to make benchtops contains up to 95 per cent silica, much higher than natural stone, so poses the greatest risk to workers, who are being exposed in unsafe workplaces.”
“Silicosis is a preventable disease, but is currently incurable, can lead to other diseases including lung cancer, and can be fatal. There is no evidence that engineered stone can be used safely – the only way to protect workers in stonecutting industries is to ban the use of this high-risk product,” Associate Professor Bourke added.
A leading expert in the field, Associate Professor Bourke has more than 20 years’ of experience researching and finding new treatments for chronic lung diseases. Her current project, leading a research program into “Establishing a novel human model for anti-fibrotic drug screening in silicosis” is funded by the Dust Diseases Board/iCARE NSW.