The Public Health Association of Australia has endorsed the announcement from Work Health and Safety Ministers across the country to ban engineered stone.
Engineered stone and the subsequent exposure to silica can prove deadly in many cases. The ban will ensure deaths and lung damage associated with engineered stone will be stopped.
“We congratulate the Ministers for supporting the recommendation by SafeWork Australia and all the researchers, clinicians, and unions who fought for this important world leading reform,” Public Health Association of Australia CEO Terry Slevin says.
“Most importantly, we thank and recognise the workers themselves, who suffered silicosis and other respiratory conditions, for fighting for the rights of those who follow them, to avoid the same fate.
Slevin regards the ban as a major milestone, likening 13 December to a celebration.
“The extreme levels of silica in these products has led to an enormous increase in tradespeople working with these products having their lungs irreparably damaged. This was unequivocally caused by using these products, in their normal work. That cannot and should not continue, so this ban shows the system can work.
“This is an important day to be celebrated.
“But it is also a call to action to work harder to reduce the known burden of those who, in their daily work, are exposed to silica, and other substances injurious to the health of those who are exposed to them.
“Engineered stone is the most obvious and clear example of a dangerous product. There are others. Perhaps less immediate in their impact, perhaps less potent, but still unfairly stealing the good health of honest, hard-working people in Australia.
“Efforts to reduce that harm to make work – all work – safer and healthier remain an important priority.”
