It is the crystalline silica which is finding its way into the lungs of those working with engineered stone, a fashionable material for benchtops in kitchens and bathrooms.
Crystalline silica is found in concrete, bricks, rocks, sand, clay and stone. Workers involved with cutting, grinding, drilling, sanding or polishing material containing it can breathe in silica particles. This can cause the incurable disease silicosis which scars the lungs, affecting breathing.
Accelerated silicosis in those working with engineered stone, which generally has high levels of silica, has been described as an emerging health issue in New Zealand. This type of silicosis may occur after a worker has been exposed to large amounts of the respirable crystalline silica dust.
Usually, it develops over three to 10 years but there have been cases recorded elsewhere after less than a year of exposure.
Since 2019, WorkSafe, ACC and the Ministry of Health have been working to identify those at risk of developing this disease.
This followed increasing concern across the Ditch about the rise in the number of workers in the engineered stone industry being diagnosed with silicosis, some of whom were in their 20s or 30s with short exposure to silica.
WorkSafe has been trying to establish how safely workplaces here are dealing with engineered stone. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood is concerned this has revealed "mixed practices".
Stuff reported more than 90% of 126 engineered stone fabricator businesses checked by the health and safety watchdog over the past three years failed to properly protect workers from the silica dust.
But there have been no prosecutions yet, nor have all workers participated in ACC’s silicosis assessment process for those who have worked for more than six months with engineered stone in the last 10 years.
Stuff has also reported that just 26 operators have been fully audited under a voluntary accreditation scheme established in 2021 to promote good work practices including wet cutting, air quality monitoring and well-fitting personal protection equipment (PPE).
In Australia calls for action have been ramping up.
A 2021 report from the government’s National Dust Disease Taskforce found almost one in four workers exposed to silica dust from engineered stone before 2018 have been diagnosed with silicosis.
Some union heft has been applied by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, which has said it will ban its members from working on engineered stone products by the middle of next year if the Government does not intervene.
It estimates that without a ban, about 100,000 workers could contract silicosis in the next 50 years.
Last week, work health and safety ministers of all states and territories joined the chorus, unanimously agreeing to ask Safe Work Australia to prepare a plan to ban the products.
If a ban is imposed, Australia will be the first country in the world to do so.
How far reaching any ban might be is not yet known and if it would apply to all products or just those with the highest proportion of silica — it can range from 95% down to 10%.
As those in the industry point out, however, regardless of the silica percentage, stringent precautions are still required to reduce the risk to workers.
Mr Wood has been quoted as saying he will do "whatever is required to keep people safe".
Thus far he has stopped short of saying if he would go as far as opting for a ban.
No doubt he will be keeping a close eye on the Australian situation, and the Government will also be able to stand up to the inevitable lobbying by the big players in the industry. He cannot afford to be namby-pamby about this.
In the meantime, while homeowners and renovators wait to find out what will happen next here, perhaps they should consider other options for their bench tops. The price of fashion can sometimes be too high.
