Leaked extracts from Safe Work Australia’s investigation into engineered stone recommends a complete ban.
Australia’s workplace safety watchdog is warning that no level of silica is safe for tradies in engineered stone products used to make kitchen benchtops, as NSW Premier Chris Minns flagged the state was prepared to go it alone on an all-out ban.call for a blanket ban on engineered stone as there is no evidence lower levels of cancer-causing crystalline silica will be any safer for stonemasons cutting the popular stone slabs, and such levels could even give them a false sense of security.
“It’s always better to do it via a national agreement primarily because that engineered stone is generally imported into the country, and if there’s difference between the jurisdictions, particularly on the borders, that could be a problem,” he said. South Australian Industrial Relations Minister Kyam Maher said that “if decisive national action is not taken on the issue of engineered stone by the end of the year, we reserve our right to pursue a ban at a state level if it is supported by the evidence”.Federal Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke’s office declined to comment before the meeting. Comment has been sought from other states.
The report’s authors have rejected the claim that any form of engineered stone could be safe to handle, finding that manufacturers have not scientifically established that “these products are without risks to the health and safety of workers and others in the workplace.“There is no toxicological evidence of a ‘safe’ threshold of crystalline silica content, or that the other components of lower-silica engineered stone products do not pose additional risks to worker health.
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