Machine cutting through an engineered stone benchtop. Photo: 123rf
The impact silica dust from engineered stone is having on workers is an issue on par, if not worse, than asbestos, a Royal Australiasian College of Physicians spokesperson says.
Doctors are calling for a ban on engineered stone that is commonly used in kitchen and bathroom benchtops, saying it is causing serious illness and death to workers who are processing it.
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians has written to the government saying about 1000 former and current stone masons are at risk.
Spokesperson Dr Alexandra Muthu told Checkpoint about a thousand workers over the past 15 or so years have either previously worked with the stone or were still working with it.
"These are people who may have been exposed in the past, before we knew a lot of the risks and then there are people now who are still putting these benchtops into homes and businesses around the country," Mutha said.
Silica dust from engineered or human made stone has been proven to cause the lung disease silicosis, as well as cancer, kidney and heart disease.
"When we look overseas to Australia and Israel, where they've done extensive case finding...this is effecting a high proportion of workers and it's resulting in very early onset of disease."
"With asbestos, there was a 20 to 30 year lag in disease and so people still had 20 to 30 years of healthy life before they became unwell, and that is not the case with silica dust from engineered stone benchtops."
The first disease that happens is accelerated silicosis, she said, which means it happens within 10 years.
A lot of other diseases have a delayed onset.
Silicosis is a scarring in the lungs, "so instead of the lungs being able to breathe normally, it's difficult to breathe".
"You can imagine, if someone doesn't have enough oxygen, those are the sorts of symptoms that people might have," she said.
"This is all completely preventable."
A three year work safe investigation showed more than 90 percent of the 126 stone fabricating businesses checked were ignoring safety guidelines.
"What is a beautiful home worth? Is it worth the harm to workers?" - Royal Australiasian College of Physicians spokesperson Dr Alexandra Muthu
In December the Australian government announced a ban on engineered stone.
"We know that the existing work health and safety legislation has failed to protect workers in New Zealand and that there are other products that are available to use as bench tops that are far safer so it doesn't make sense that we are continuing to use a product that is very very difficult to use safely," Mutha said.
Some businesses have invested in trying to improve working conditions but WorkSafe inspections showed it was difficult to do this in a sustainable way, she said.
"We know that when these benches are polished or fabricated in some way, that very high percentages of dust goes into the air, much higher than the workplace exposure standards that are safe."
A ban was not the only thing needed, but a very sensible step, she said.
A registry to look after workers who were already exposed was needed as well as workers exposed to risks from other sources.
"What is a beautiful home worth? Is it worth the harm to workers?"