HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES DUST DANGER
Daniel Poet of Thompsons Solicitors warns that preventable silicosis persists as UK workers face inconsistent controls on ventilation, water suppression, and protective equipment — showing that clear rules alone aren’t enough to keep workplaces safe.
Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) remains one of the most significant occupational health hazards across UK industry. The risks are well understood, the regulatory framework is established, and the controls required to reduce exposure are familiar across the H&S profession.
However, evidence from clinical casework and recent discussions at the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Occupational Safety and Health suggests that these controls are not always realised consistently in practice. The number and profile of diagnoses – particularly among younger workers and after relatively short exposure periods – indicate variation in how effectively control measures are implemented.
This brings into focus how established control principles are applied in practice ensuring controls remain appropriate to materials and processes, that systems such as local exhaust ventilation (LEV) and water suppression are maintained and tested, and that risk assessments reflect evolving working methods.
Within that context, respiratory protective equipment remains an important safeguard against crystalline silica, as part of a broader control strategy. Ongoing training, supervision and monitoring also remain central.
As International Workers’ Memorial Day is marked in April, there is an opportunity to reflect on how effectively these measures translate into day-to-day practice. Silica- related disease remains a clear example of where that issue continues to matter.
A WIDESPREAD, FAMILIAR HAZARD
Crystalline silica is present in materials including stone, concrete, brick and mortar. Exposure arises from routine activities such as cutting, drilling, crushing and grinding across construction, quarrying and manufacturing.
The British Safety Council estimates that more than half a million workers in Britain are exposed to crystalline silica each year.
When inhaled, fine particles penetrate deep into the lungs, causing silicosis – a progressive and irreversible condition – and increasing risks of lung cancer and COPD. While historically linked to long-term exposure, this assumption is now being challenged.
CHANGING EXPOSURE PATTERNS
Particular attention has focused on engineered stone, widely used in worktops and often containing 90–95% crystalline silica.
When cut or polished, especially using dry processes, it can generate very high dust concentrations. This has led to clusters of severe disease among younger workers internationally, with UK clinicians now identifying similar patterns – with an average age in the early 30s and reports of workers in their 20s requiring lung transplants.
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This highlights the need to ensure control measures remain appropriate to changing materials and significantly higher exposure profiles.
REGULATION AND CONTROL
Internationally, measures are already being taken. On 1 July 2024, the Commonwealth of Australia and all states and territories implemented amendments to the model WHS Regulations to make it an offence for a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to carry out, or to direct or allow a worker to carry out, work involving the manufacture, supply, processing or installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs.
For the purposes of the model WHS Regulations, engineered stone is defined as an artificial product that contains at least 1% crystalline silica as a weight/weight concentration, and is created by combining natural stone materials with other chemical constituents (such as water, resins, or pigments), and becomes hardened.
On 1 January 2025, engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs became prohibited imports under regulation 5M of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956.
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