MPs demand Government action over kitchen-revamp silicosis deaths ...Middle East

MPs from an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) have backed The i Paper’s campaign pushing for firmer regulation on deadly dust-causing silicosis among workers cutting kitchen countertops.

Jim Shannon, chair of the APPG on Respiratory Health, said the group backed our Killer Kitchens drive to make unsafe, dry cutting of high-silica stone like quartz illegal.

There have been calls from some lawmakers for Australia’s ban on engineered stone kitchen countertops to be considered here.

But after consulting with industry and clinical experts, the APPG doesn’t favour an outright ban on engineered stone in the UK.

In the past two years, there has been a surge in silicosis cases in young stonemasons in the UK, with at least 45 diagnosed so far.

The i Paper has launched its Killer Kitchens campaign to force the Government to clamp down on deadly silica dust putting workers lives at risk.

But the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says banning or restricting engineered stone supply doesn’t remove the risk to workers, as, they say, natural stone can have a similar content of silica dust, known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS).

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Mr Shannon said: “The APPG is delighted to support The i Paper campaign on the unnecessary deaths from silicosis caused by work on engineered stone.

“We are delighted that the campaign focusses on the right mechanisms to reduce deaths and severe illness – banning unsafe cutting of kitchen worktop stone, guaranteed workplace health tests, a national database of sickness and deaths, including a screening programme, and wider prosecution to crackdown on irresponsible employers.”

The APPG also called for real-time detection of silica introduced on all cutting and fabrication work to further protect the lives and health of workers.

It comes amid growing scrutiny of the problem, with Government minister Stephen Timms among those attending a Parliament meeting last month, which heard union officials and Labour peer Lord John Hendy urge the Government to consider a ban on quartz.

In 2023, the cross-party group of MPs from the APPG on Respiratory Health wrote a report aimed at improving silicosis outcomes in the UK.

In it, they called for the HSE to carry out an industry awareness campaign on the dangers of RCS.

They also urged the HSE to assess the data and technology that would allow the UK to halve the current workplace exposure limit to RCS over eight hours to 0.05 mg/m3, a move backed by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Better monitoring of workers’ occupational health should also be undertaken at GP surgeries, they argue.

“It’s about bringing in regulation that keeps people safe, that keeps the people in the construction sector from falling far behind with their health,” said Mr Shannon.

“We want to raise awareness across the whole of Government. I know there’s lots to do. We understand the pressures of Government at this moment in time.

“But when you are talking about the health and welfare and care of those in the construction sector then it needs to be foremost and central to the Government and its departments.”

Baroness Natalie Bennett, a Green Party peer who sits on the APPG favours a ban on quartz worktops, which she labelled an “unnecessary product”.

The group had heard “horrendous” accounts of the conditions tradespeople were enduring in dust-filled small factories.

Concerns over the impact on jobs in the industry if a ban were introduced should be outweighed by the risk to workers, she believes.

“This is just such a public health crisis that that argument just does cannot possibly hold water,” she said.

“Every time we get a briefing from from the medical experts, the figures have gone up. They’re convinced the figures we’re seeing is a tiny fraction of the actual total.”

Short of a ban, she called for more enforcement and inspections from the HSE to to target workplaces flouting safety regulations.

However, she is concerned that Government “austerity” as Labour slashes spending will impact the safety watchdog’s ability to track down workplaces putting stonemasons at risk.

“The resources need to be put in so that the HSE goes out and has a huge active effort to go and find the places and close them down if the right things aren’t being done,” she said.

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An HSE spokesperson said: “Our condolences are with anyone who has lost a loved one to silicosis or has been affected by work-related disease.

“We would urge all GB importers and distributors to promote the use of low silica products.

“They lower the risk to workers during processing whilst being equivalent in appearance and durability for their customers.”

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