‘Stop use of engineered stone now’

The UK should follow in the footsteps of Australia and ban the manufacture and production of engineered stone said Unite national officer, Jason Poulter.

Speaking at Unite’s lunchtime fringe meeting on the third day of the TUC Congress (September 15) in Brighton, Jason explained that Australia banned engineered stone because it exposes workers to crystalline silica dust which can cause silicosis, an irreversible occupational lung disease. 

There is a growing trend for quartz-based engineered stone to be used for kitchen worktops and sink surrounds in bathrooms, so, the potential exposure of workers is growing and the number of cases among younger workers is causing increasing concern.

When the stone is cut, it can release respirable crystalline silica dust, which enters the lungs causing silicosis, COPD and other respiratory illnesses including lung cancer.

Jason said, “We are now seeing a rapidly developing disease which is leaving workers in their 30s and 40s with life-changing illness because of simply doing their jobs. Workers who went to work to earn a living [and] expected to come home safely. Instead, some are facing a lifetime of serious illness and tragically, exposure can result in premature death.”

Daniel Poet from Thompsons solicitors, whom Unite are working with on this campaign, said there had been a step change recently in the number of silicosis cases, in particular from young people.

He explained that, “Once inhaled, the body is unable to fully remove silica dust from the lungs.”

Unlike some particles that the body can naturally clear, silica particles can remain trapped within lung tissue and continue to cause inflammation and damage over time. 

Tina Conroy, an occupational hygienist from Pragma offered some words of hope when she said that the disease is “incurable but entirely preventable.”

And because it’s preventable, Unite and Thompsons have joined forces to raise awareness and develop an information campaign on behalf of Unite members and workers across the construction sector.

A silica dust exposure register has been established and major employers, where members have recorded silica exposure, are being identified. So far, this represents over 1,000 workers.

To be successful, the campaign has to reach further than Unite members. It has to be a movement-wide campaign, so please sign and share the petition to ban engineered stone and protect a generation of workers,

The campaign is also engaging with MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Occupational Safety and Health. This brings together politicians, leading medical experts, trade unions, and legal specialists who are demanding a ban on engineered stone and tougher enforcement of existing safety laws. 

The next step is to hold a launch event in Parliament to raise awareness and ensure that, politically and industrially, the trade union movement is standing steadfastly behind workers who are being exposed to this danger.

Unite wants to secure an immediate moratorium on the use of engineered stone, leading to a full ban because, as Jason says, “improved guidance, however well intentioned, will not solve this problem.”

Jason said there were a number of actions Unite members, their work colleagues, friends and family members could take and he called for all workers to raise the issue with their MPs, unions and every support network available.

He said, “We need an immediate moratorium on engineered stone. And ultimately we need a ban because no kitchen worktop is worth a worker’s lungs. No product is worth a worker’s life. And no family should have to pay the price for someone simply going to work.”

See Jason speak in our film of the event here.

By Nancy Platts

Photo by Mark Thomas

Video by Remi Apatira