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The Dust of Death

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A worker walks through one of the twin tunnels being constructed under Rosehill Racecourse near Parramatta.

The human cost of Sydney’s many tunnelling projects

Beneath our city, a maze of tunnels is under construction. More must be done to keep Sydney’s tunnelling workers safe.

  • The Herald's View

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silicosis

A 32-year-old has a deadly disease. So do a dozen of his colleagues

Thirteen tunnellers on one single roadway project have been diagnosed with silicosis. Their employer is in the crosshairs.

  • Max Maddison
The Northconnex tunnel in Sydney being constructed in 2017.

SafeWork knew tunnel workers were exposed to ‘high levels’ of deadly silica dust

Thousands of tunnel workers have been exposed to silica. Confidential documents reveal the regulator has known since at least April 2018.

  • Max Maddison
WestConnex staff during tunnel construction in 2021.

Revealed: The Sydney tunnel projects where deadly dust levels hit 208 times legal limit

“All you see is clouds of dust”: Thousands of tunnel workers are being exposed to potentially deadly levels of silica.

  • Max Maddison
Andrew Klohk was a stonemason for years.

Andrew has been a tradie since he was 10. His work has left him dying

In just two months, 23 new cases of the deadly disease silicosis have been reported in NSW.

  • Alexandra Smith
Joanna McNeill with daughters Matilda, 7, and Charlee, 5. The 36-year-old contracted silicosis after working in admin in a portable office at a quarry in Melbourne’s east. Most of the nation’s workplace health and safety ministers agreed in December to prohibit the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone from July 2024, while Canberra vowed to ban imports from an unspecified date, in a deal celebrated by unions and health experts.

New laws protect 600,000 workers from deadly dust, but they come too late for Joanna

New laws give workers exposed to respiratory crystalline silica dust the right to demand multiple safety control measures.

  • Amber Schultz
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Benchtops made from engineered stone have become popular across the nation.

$2.5 million to enforce engineered stone ban after inspections reveal worksite issues

A national ban on the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone, commonly used in shiny kitchen benchtops, will begin next month.

  • Mary Ward
Engineered stone, widely used in kitchen benchtops, can cause silicosis.

Scope of benchtop ban under review to guard against loopholes

Safe Work Australia will draw up the regulations to be adopted after a national meeting in March.

  • Angus Thompson
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke will impose an importation ban on engineered stone, but the date is not yet known.

Delay on deadly stone import ban until states sort out own deadlines

Australia’s states and territories agreed earlier this month to roll out the world’s first ban on engineered stone, which causes silicosis.

  • Angus Thompson
Construction costs weigh on the housing sector

New rules send ‘shock waves’ through the housing industry

The cost of making homes more sustainable and the banning of engineered stone have sent shock waves through the construction industry.

  • Carolyn Cummins

Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/topic/the-dust-of-death-6fuy