Silica in the News
A Gold Coast stonemason who was one of the first diagnosed with the devastating lung disease silicosis has died.
Anthony White passed away on Saturday, his younger brother Shane has told Nine News, from complications relating to his debilitating lung condition.
Shane said Anthony had been feeling positive in the days before his death, and had recently been put on a waiting list for a double lung transplant.
Read more: Brisbane Times
A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court decision and ruled against a OneBeacon Insurance Group Inc. unit in a silicosis wrongful death case involving a bankrupt company
Read more: businessinsurance.com
There are calls for the Queensland government to do more to combat the emerging threat of silicosis, after it was revealed hundreds of workplaces have been fined in a crackdown on the engineered stone industry.
Read more: brisbanetimes.com.au
The concrete industry likes to say that concrete is recyclable at the end of its life, although almost 80 percent of recycled concrete ends up as fill and road bases. But there is another problem; as the UK concrete centre notes, it is strong stuff that lasts a long time.
It is more than likely that a modern concrete building will come to the end of its useful life because no further use can be found for it, rather than because the concrete failed due to age.
Read more: treehugger.com
Coalmine dust disease victims are planning to confront BHP to ask for a fund to be established for black lung and silicosis sufferers.
The Mine Dust Diseases Victims Group wrote to BHP but have not received a response, so will go directly to executives in Brisbane, a spokesman says.
Read more: dailymail.co.uk
Following national concerns, the SA government has announced funding for widespread screening for stone industry workers for silicosis.
Read more: sbs.com.au
Thousands of coal miners have been diagnosed with progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), an advanced stage of black lung disease. The epidemic can be traced back to toxic exposures from 20 years ago.
A recent multiyear investigation by National Public Radio (NPR) and the PBS program, Frontline, reveals that government regulators knew about the dangers in the mines and did nothing to stop workers from being exposed.
Read more: Lawyers.com
Drills are basic equipment used on construction sites. Workers should use protective gear when drilling, but one of the greatest dangers to employees involves the type of drill used. Pneumatic drills pose far more of a risk over the long term to workers, and researchers at the University of California Berkeley recommend that contractors should make the switch from pneumatic to electric drills to protect workers.
Read more: Lawyers.com
Short video describes how to control dust from handheld grinders removing mortar (tuckpointing) to limit workers’ exposure to respirable crystalline silica .
New research shows personal protective equipment (PPE) is not the most cost-effective way to protect workers from silica risk.
The work was led by economist Emile Tompa of the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto, but the team also included researchers from the Occupational Cancer Research Centre, University of British Columbia (UBC) and Ryerson University. Funding came from the Ontario Ministry of Labour Research Opportunities Program.
Read more: Journal of Commerce
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