News & Views

Silica dust causes more than 230 cases of lung cancer in Australia each year that can be prevented easily through dust controls and respirators, the Cancer Council has warned. Meanwhile, an Australian Standard for sun protective clothing has been revised to include minimum body-coverage requirements.

According to Cancer Council Australia, about 600,000 Australian workers like miners, construction workers, demolition workers, engineers and farmers are exposed to silica dust from stones, bricks, tiles, concrete, some plastics and other materials annually.

When worked on or cut, these materials release silica as a very fine dust that can lead to lung cancer if inhaled, it says.

"Of around 11,000 new cases of lung cancer diagnosed each year in Australia, over 8000 are due to smoking, 230 due to silica dust and 130 due to diesel exhaust. These are preventable, and given the poor survival rate for lung cancer it is so vital we do all we can to prevent them," the chair of the Council's occupational and environmental cancer risk committee, Terry Slevin says.

The silica cases "could have easily been prevented through dust prevention or control, adequate ventilation or personal respiratory protection", he says.

Proper protection involves "a lot more than just wearing a mask", Slevin stresses.

Indeed, as reported by OHS Alert last month, a BMJ report on the re-emergence of lung disease silicosis in Australia found that three of seven studied victims had worn disposable masks while working with artificial stone – a product with a very high silica content (see related article).

In August, a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the Dust Diseases Scheme called for the urgent formation of a taskforce to review safety standards in the manufactured stone industry (see related article), after hearing that silicosis is becoming a "huge problem" in the sector because dust suppression is either "non-existent or inadequate" (see related article).

Slevin says that preventing workplace exposure to silica dust requires "on-site ventilation, using specialised tools with appropriate blades and dust suppression features and a range of other important safeguards" explained in a new Cancer Council fact sheet on the hazards of silica dust.

"Employers have a legal responsibility to provide a safe place to work. Likewise, those working with silica need to take responsibility for their future health, get informed and protect themselves," he says.

"If you are regularly demolishing materials, sandcasting, sandblasting, bricklaying or cutting stone, tiles or bricks as a part of your job, you are at risk, so you need to get informed today… We also recommend home renovators and DIY warriors follow [Cancer Council] guidelines to reduce the prospect of inhaling silica dust."

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Article first published with OHS Alert www.ohsalert.com.au