‘Devastating’: Aussie dad’s horror silicosis diagnosis

A father-of-seven who can’t read but provides for his young family is facing a death sentence after being diagnosed with a fatal and incurable disease.

EXCLUSIVE

A young Victorian dad has been diagnosed with a fatal disease caused by the “new asbestos” after a 15-year career installing kitchen benchtops — as he shares shocking images of Australian homes and factories coated in the toxic dust.

Nathan Donnelly, 32, was last year diagnosed with silicosis, an incurable workplace-related disease caused by inhaling silica dust.

The terminal illness is most commonly diagnosed in stonemasons, who breathe in staggering amounts of silica as they cut, polish and shape engineered stone.

As his family of seven awaits word on his life expectancy, Mr Donnelly will soon join more than 70 silicosis sufferers who have filed complaints in Australian courts. Many are stonemasons, suing their employers for failing to provide a safe work environment.

Some, like Mr Donnelly, insist in their claims they were never warned of how dangerous the product could be.

Have a similar story? Get in touch — [e-mail]

Mr Donnelly, pictured here with his kids, is dying of silicosis. He has shared horror images of Aussie homes coated in the dust. Picture: Supplied

Hidden detail: Mr Donnelly often came home from work covered in toxic dust. The shirt he is wearing in this family photo was originally navy, while his pants were a dark khaki before he was exposed to the “new asbestos”. Picture: Supplied.

Engineered stone – which contains up to 95 per cent silica – has been called the “new asbestos”, and more than a quarter of a million Aussie tradies are at risk.

The material is safe for those living in a home after it is installed, but to be considered safe in the workplace, it must be cut wet by workers in full protective gear.

Even when engineered stone is cut wet, Mr Donnelly explained to news.com.au, the resultant silica waste flows into dumpster-sized “pits” that are cleaned out by hand. In hot conditions, it quickly dries and turns back into dust.

Mr Donnelly described incidents from his past in which he was asked to shovel pits of silica and scrub dried dust from factory floors. At times, he claims he and his workmates simply dumped the hazardous waste into customers’ bins, not understanding how dangerous it could be.

“As soon as you remove the mask, the dust is all over your face,” he told this publication.

“I was going home at night covered in dust. It was in my car, in my clothes. I was bringing it home to my kids.”

One of Mr Donnelly’s colleagues, unmasked and coated in a white dust he says is silica. Picture: Supplied.

In shocking images seen by news.com.au, provided by Mr Donnelly, stonemasons could be seen covered in white dust that he says is silica. The substance is so thick it has changed the colour of their clothes.

Workers were permitted to eat and drink in the factories, Mr Donnelly said. Often, he would head into the break room to make a coffee and return to the factory floor to drink it.

Mr Donnelly, who is illiterate, said he began work as a stonemason as a way to provide for his family.

“We didn’t know of the dangers when we first started out,” he said.

“It seemed like a good opportunity. I was trying to do the right thing, help out my family, get a nice decent job – something hands-on.”

Warning notices, he claims, were few and far between. Safety Data Sheets were only provided online, and Mr Donnelly couldn’t read them.

Mr Donnelly's colleague sanding engineered stone, unmasked. Picture: Supplied.

He claims caution stickers were “tiny on huge slabs of stone”. Mr Donnelly also claims the dangers of engineered stone were not verbally announced at any of his workplaces.

The government conducted a crackdown on engineered stone in 2019, after the death of 36-year-old stonemason Anthony White.

Within weeks of White’s death, a national dust disease task force had been launched, tasked with combating dust diseases including silicosis.

Some reforms have been introduced, but four years later, there still isn’t a national register or requirement to monitor the air in workplaces that use engineered stone.

Mr Donnelly said he knew of no stonemasons who worked in masks before it became a requirement. Photos from the period show tradies polishing and cutting engineered stone without any respiratory protection. In one such image, the floor outside a factory is so thickly coated in white dust it could be written in like sand.

After the 2019 crackdown, he was asked to wear a heavy-duty P3 mask, which he paid for out-of-pocket.

Another of Mr Donnelly's colleagues operating stone-cutting tools without wearing a mask. Picture: Supplied.

His wife Tamara Street, a nurse, said the terminal diagnosis was “devastating” for the family of seven.

Mr Donnelly was advised to stop work immediately, and told he would likely never work again due to the severity of his condition. The couple has spent a huge portion of their savings travelling to doctors’ appointments in central Melbourne from their property near Ballarat.

He is being represented by Slater and Gordon Lawyers in a workers’ compensation claim for pain and suffering damages, medical expenses and loss of earnings among other entitlements.

Mr Donnelly was diagnosed with silicosis, a disease that attacks the lungs, earlier this month. He awaits word on his life expectancy. Picture: Supplied.

“It’s drained everyone in the family, both financially and mentally,” Ms Street said.

“The younger children don’t really understand. Our three-year-old asks Nathan to go out and throw a ball, and it’s heartbreaking to know he can’t do that anymore.”

Mr Donnelly takes medication in order to fall asleep, fearful each night could be his last.

The couple said they believed nothing could fix the problem short of a total ban on engineered stone.

“Whether you wear a mask or not, it’s still in your hair,” Mr Donnelly said.

“It’s still in your socks and filling up your clothing. The only way we’re going to be safe is if we go to work in a hazmat suit and quarantine ourselves every night.”

A study from Curtin University estimates more than 275,000 Australian workers, mostly tradies, are exposed to high levels of the toxic dust.

Up to 103,000 of them will be diagnosed with silicosis, it predicted.

Mr Donnelly has a crowdfunding campaign available here.

Have a similar story? Get in touch — [e-mail]