The Australian Workers’ Union, the CFMEU, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions have launched a campaign calling for urgent regulatory action to ban engineered stone amidst rising cases of silicosis, an ‘occupational lung disease’ caused by breathing crystalline silica dust, causing lung inflammation and fibrosis.
Lung Foundation Australia has also called for public consultation on the National Silicosis Prevention Strategy (NSPS) and accompanying National Action Plan (NAP).
Kyle Goodwin, a former stonemason with terminal silicosis will front the Stop The Killer Stone campaign which calls on governments to ban the use and importation of engineered stone like Caesarstone. If that doesn’t happen by mid-next year, the CFMEU will ban engineered stone.
Four and a half years ago, Kyle was given five years to live. He was 33 when he received the devastating diagnosis.
For most of his career as a stonemason he was working in sheds, cutting, shaping, polishing stone benchtops. Exposure to the deadly dust from engineered stone caused silicosis.
Incoming CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith said the Union was proud to be leading the charge on banning engineered stone.
“Australian workers like Kyle are dying because of engineered stone. The companies flooding our markets with this cheap and nasty material know that, but to them profits are more important than people’s lives.
“Engineered stone is the asbestos of the 2020s. Governments must act to stop its importation and use.
“But if decision-makers won’t act, the CFMEU will. Our Union will ban our members from engineered stone by mid-next year.”
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.
Associate Professor Jane Bourke, Head of Respiratory Pharmacology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute said 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.”