Ken Parker was a model worker, smashing out 40 benchtops a day. Dinh Tran migrated to Australia and happily found work. Ken, Dinh and others like them have silicosis, acquired from inhaling dust from the cutting of engineered stone.
estimates there are more than 275,000 workers, including miners, contractors, construction workers, stone masons and tunnellers exposed to high levels of crystalline silica which is carcinogenic.Silicosis is the oldest occupational lung disease in the world. Instead of the number of sufferers falling, it has risen over the past 20 years.
“I used to tell people it was like working in hell,” the 47-year-old says. “You can’t see more than a couple of feet in front of you for the dust.It’s in your clothes, in your skin, in your eyes, car, you take it home with you. It’s just everywhere.” “It’s taken its toll. It’s taken everything from me,” he says. “I’ve got three daughters and seeing, you know, walking them down the aisle, or worry about seeing them on their high school graduation in their dress. I don’t like to talk about it too much because it does make me quite upset.”
According to locals, Caesarstone is powerful and relies on heavy-handed tactics including hiring top gun lawyers to silence its critics. Kramer says: “They never admit that the silica is the cause of the disease. And they make some minimal compensation settlement out of court to shut the workers down. But I see the patients. They are all over the country. Hundreds of patients.”Kramer’s study of Caesarstone and silicosis covers 1997 to 2010, with the earliest lung transplant in 1997, a decade after it first opened its doors in Israel.
Nir says as more workers started to get sick and take legal action, Caesarstone started to drip-feed information. “Don’t shake your clothing, use water when cutting, wear a mask,” he says. “It’s all too late.”, it re-designed the stickers, including increasing the size of the words, using hazardous warning signs and changing the wording to make it clearer that the dust is dangerous.
The letter, sent to him on behalf of the then minister for employment Eric Abetz, said a workplace exposure standard for respirable crystalline silica has been in place for more than 30 years and the government was “committed to protecting the health and safety of workers in Australia and recognises the harm that substances in the workplace can cause to workers, their families and the broader community.
But Kate Cole, the immediate past president of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists , said there are large inconsistencies in the regulation of silica which continues to put workers at risk of silicosis. “The industry is plagued by poor safety standards, and there is limited, if any, evidence to demonstrate that this is an issue that is under control. All we have is evidence to say that this is a continued problem,” she says.
In the past three years more than 70 silicosis cases have been filed in Victoria and Queensland. Cases are also being filed in NSW and other states. The notices are issued for: silica dust found on toilets, in the lunchroom, on benches in the office, poor compliance, workers not wearing proper protective equipment, lack of training, no health monitoring, and exposing workers to “significant levels” of crystalline silica above the Australian Workplace Exposure Standard “which may pose a risk to their health if not adequately controlled”.
Parker’s former employer is facing criminal proceedings in the District Court of NSW for its alleged breach of duty of care to workers. The company has not responded to this masthead’s questions. Instead of visiting sites for an inspection, on dozens of occasions it sent a letter to the company saying: “an inspector will not be attending the workplace ... at this stage.”
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The shiny kitchen benchtops killing young AustraliansKen Parker was a model worker, smashing out 40 benchtops a day. Now he just hopes to live long enough to see his daughter turn 18. Ken, and others like him, have silicosis, acquired from inhaling dust from the cutting of engineered stone.
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The shiny kitchen benchtops killing young AustraliansKen Parker was a model worker, smashing out 40 benchtops a day. Now he just hopes to live long enough to see his daughter turn 18. Ken, and others like him, have silicosis, acquired from inhaling dust from the cutting of engineered stone.
Read more »