28 October 2023
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) supports the recommendation from the SafeWork Australia Work Health and Safety report for a total ban on engineered stone.
Dr Warren Harrex, Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (AFOEM) President and RACP spokesperson says, “The legacy of this disease is lethal, and we fully support the recommendation to ban the use of engineered stone to save countless lives.
“It’s clear that alternative measures recommended as a first step from the National Dust Diseases Taskforce Report from 2021 have not been widely adopted and now we need to progress with a total ban as a matter of urgency.
“However, this ban cannot be the only extent of our reform.
“There is a dire need for a national dust disease reporting system and national dust disease registry. The Taskforce has been calling for this from the start and it should be a matter of priority.
“There could potentially be thousands of workers right now who have not been identified as being exposed to silica, and we need a reporting system to be able to identify and monitor those who are at risk.
“The first case of accelerated silicosis was reported in 2015. Eight years is a long time to wait for significant action to be taken and thousands of people have been affected since then, but we simply don’t know the extent of this disease across the whole of Australia.
“We must continue creating safeguards for those who work with any form of dangerous dust. A ban is a critical step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.
“We want to see better opportunities and support for specialist physicians to engage with employers, supervisors, workplace regulators and unions to assess hazards which may be work, health and safety issues.
“We cannot allow more generations of workers to suffer from completely preventable diseases because of inaction, non-compliance or inadequate monitoring and reporting.
“The RACP continues to advocate for the full implementation of the recommendations from the 2021 National Dust Disease Taskforce report. This report included recommendations from the Taskforce that included improvement in compliance with mandatory regular air monitoring of potentially dusty workplaces, and improvements in ongoing health surveillance of exposed workers.
“We need to protect workers from all forms of dangerous dust exposure to prevent silicosis, lung cancer and other serious lung diseases.
“The accelerated silicosis epidemic and the reports of cases from the medical profession emphasise how important it is that Australian work, health and safety systems protect workers from preventable occupational diseases,” says Dr Harrex.
The RACP urges policymakers not to forget the thousands of workers who have already been impacted by silicosis and other respiratory diseases caused by the uncontrolled cutting of engineered stone.