Source: MinEx, Health and Safety in NZ Extractives
Employers, unions and MinEx which represents health and safety for quarries, mines and tunnels, are among organisations saying the Government must reduce the risks faced by thousands of New Zealand workers from the deadly lung disease silicosis.
MinEx has today sent its submission to consultation closing tomorrow on options from Workplace Relations and Safety Minister, Brooke van Velden on how to deal with Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) which causes the disease.
A workshop was held by MinEx earlier this month to help develop a pan-industry response to silicosis across extractive, construction, concrete and other sectors as well as health and safety organisations and researchers.
CEO Wayne Scott says he’s since met with the Council of Trade Unions and been in touch with the Employers and Manufacturers’ Association.”It is heartening to have both unions and employers back MinEx’s call for a ban on engineered stone. This product is the primary focus of the Minister’s consultation as it presents the highest risk to workers.”
He says in the year to last October, WorkSafe inspectors visited 102 engineered stone businesses and issued 131 improvement notices to 67 of them. “This is five years after WorkSafe started paying attention to engineered stone and clearly indicates many of the businesses are not complying with health and safety controls, long after the risks to workers have been identified.
“The CTU and EMA and several other organisations also share our view that the Minister must additionally act to strengthen requirements to reduce the RCS exposure risk faced by tens of thousands of other Kiwi workers.”
“That underscores why every organisation associated with our workshop has backed a call for the Government to establish an Occupational Lung Disease Registry to provide tracking, treatment and support for affected workers.”
He says the mining and quarrying sector are already mandated to conduct regular exposure monitoring and lung tests on their workers every five years, as well as often consented requirements to reduce any dust created by their operations.
“No such requirements apply to other sectors where workers can be exposed to Respirable Crystalline Silica including construction, concrete cutting, glass and some other trades.”
Wayne Scott says every New Zealand worker who faces any risk from silicosis deserves a full range of protection, led by their employers and backed by Government regulations.
“This is a nasty disease. Unlike asbestosis which often takes decades to emerge, silicosis can quite rapidly stop healthy young people working. The tiny particles bypass the body’s defences, scarring the lungs, leading to breathing difficulties, other illnesses and sometimes death. We’ve got to deal with it,” says Wayne Scott.
