n By Hajera Blagg RELIEF’


Dr Jennifer Hoyle, who serves as a consultant respiratory physician at North Manchester General Hospital, also spoke. She detailed the symptoms of silicosis, how, exactly, people develop the disease after exposure, and how it progresses.


She highlighted the challenges with diagnosis, and the differences between chronic and acute silicosis. Dr Hoyle emphasised the desperate need for more research into the disease. She noted, too, that it isn’t only construction workers who are affected by silicosis. Workers as disparate as dentist technicians, jeans manufacturers and jewellery workers are all at risk.


Unite national officer Jason Poulter was the final speaker at the meeting in Parliament, and he highlighted the diversity of experience among different construction workers. Some, he said, are employed in workplaces like Hinkley Point, or in quarries, where health and safety is a top priority.


But others will go from project to project, having multiple employers throughout their career. They may work for very small companies or may be self-employed. These workers are at greatest risk.


Highlighting the risk of engineered stone, he said, “We’ve got this product that’s ‘artisan’. It looks fancy, and flash, and it’ll make your kitchen look like an Italian palace. It’s engineered stone, and we’ve got workers finishing it, grinding it, cutting it out and installing it on site – what are they being exposed to?


FIND OUT MORE


If you think you’re at risk contact your local rep or regional office immediately.


SILICA RISK REGISTER Sign up today at www.unitelegalservices.org/ services/silica-dust


Or scan the QR code 19 unite buildingWORKER Spring 2026


“How far removed are they from workers at Hinkley Point? It’s like chalk and cheese.”


He emphasised the need for an education campaign to ensure all workers are informed of the dangers of silicosis, and what they can do to protect themselves. He said such an education campaign must run in conjunction with the union’s efforts to lobby for an outright ban of engineered stone products.


Speaking to buildingWORKER ahead of the meeting, Unite senior rep Lewis McAulay, explained how the campaign related to his work at British Gypsum, a big manufacturer of plaster and plasterboard.


“We use silica in all our fire-resistant plasterboard products. We’ve got members who handle silica, loading it up in hoppers, and we’ve also got members who work down in mines as well, where there’s silica dust in the environment.”


Lewis highlighted some of the controls his employer has put into place, like suspending silica in liquid, which eliminates the risk, since silica is only dangerous when it is airborne. But he said this control wasn’t in place at all sites – adding that more must be done across the board.


“There needs to be more controls in workplaces, and a greater awareness of the dangers,” he said. “When you go to B&Q, for example, there’s no warning on fire resistant plasterboard.


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…we’ve got workers finishing [engineered stone], grinding it, cutting it out and installing it on site – what are they being exposed to? How far removed are they from workers at Hinkley Point? It’s like chalk and cheese


Jason Poulter, Unite national officer


If you take the board home and start cutting it up, that silica is going to become airborne, and people just don’t know. There needs to be a duty on suppliers to make sure people are aware.”


Trevor agreed, and likewise echoed Jason on the need to support workers who are at greatest risk.


“Education here is key,” he said. “Big employers may be putting that information out there, but it’s entirely different with the smaller, one-man bands fitting kitchens. There are no warnings on any of these [engineered stone] products; there’s no safety advice. It’s just given to these workers, and they’re cutting them with no protection. You’ve got people in their 30s in hospital with silicosis and COPD. When their lungs are done, their futures are finished – that’s it.”


FOR MORE INFO


Scan the QR code to view our last edition of buildingWORKER


Autumn 2025 The voice of Unite Construction


A DEADLY DUST Unite’s fight against silica


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Alamy


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