Benchtop giant, health groups demand dangerous-stone ban

One of the world’s largest stone benchtop companies and a coalition of health experts have separately called for a ban on products blamed for a deadly silicosis epidemic.

The push from manufacturer Cosentino and key health organisations, including the Lung Foundation Australia and Public Health Association Australia, came as a leading government voice on workplace relations also called for immediate action from state and federal governments to “right a terrible wrong”.

X-rays showing the effects of silicosis on the lungs.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

An investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes revealed this week that stonemasons have been inhaling carcinogenic silica dust when cutting engineered stone benchtops containing up to 95 per cent silica.

Manufacturer Cosentino produces more than one in every five domestic kitchen benchtops sold in Australia and is facing international scrutiny over its safety record.

It is now pushing for a nationally co-ordinated approach to reduce risks associated with products containing high levels of silica, ahead of a meeting of workplace safety ministers next week.

“We have an immediate solution without disrupting the construction and building market”, a Cosentino spokesperson said. “And prices won’t increase.”

Two weeks ago Cosentino was found guilty in a Spanish Court of negligence. Reuters reported that the company’s owner accepted a six-month suspended prison sentence after admitting to covering up the dangers of the product. It is also facing legal action in Australia.

A coalition of peak health groups, including the one writing a government action plan on silicosis, also backed a ban on high-silica-content products, and urged leaders to boost the policing of workplaces and overhaul compensation schemes for sick workers.

The Cosentino spokesperson said restrictions should start tomorrow, not next year or in 18 months.

“The immediate solution is everyone buys products that are less than 40 per cent silica,” he said.

He said a licensing scheme similar to Victoria’s should be rolled out nationally.

“I am part of this industry for 20 years … it is heartbreaking,” he said, referring to stories of stonemasons including Ken Parker, who is 47 and dying of silicosis.

The spokesperson said Cosentino had developed a product containing between 10 per cent and 40 per cent silica which could be distributed at scale if products with higher levels of silica were stopped from entering the market.

Marble contains 2 per cent silica and granite can contain up to 45 per cent silica, while sandstone is up to 90 per cent.

The Lung Foundation of Australia, which is leading the government’s response to silicosis, is among a group of health bodies – including the Public Health Association of Australia and the Australian Institute of Health and Safety – that released a statement to this masthead urging ministers to ban high-silica-content products and increase enforcement of existing workplace safety regulations.

The groups pointed to a dramatic increase in silicosis and lung cancer stemming from the boom in high-silica engineered stone.

“As experts in health, disease prevention, and occupational health and safety, we believe that it is essential that governments and employers adopt policies and programs to systematically control exposure to [silica], including implementing a ban on the use of high-content-silica engineered stone products,” the statement said.

The group also called for the government to ban the use of all engineered stone by 2024.

Dr Jane Bourke, an expert on chronic lung diseases at Monash University, said there wasn’t any evidence of a safe level of silica dust “without any risk”.

“The control measures of wet cutting, the correct collection of the dust, the correct storage of the waste … even with those measures, there’s still a risk posed to workers,” Dr Bourke said.

“So the question is, what is acceptable? If you speak to a worker who has silicosis, then that risk is still too high.”

Incoming construction union secretary Zach Smith said he did not agree with any allowable threshold on silica content unless supported by scientific research on its effects on workers.

On Tuesday Labor senator Tony Sheldon became the first federal MP to call for an immediate ban of engineered stone, backing demands from ACTU head Sally McManus and Smith.

“There must be an immediate ban on the import, production and use of manufactured stone, and a much more stringent approach to workplace at other worksites such as tunnels and quarries, where silica dust is an issue,” Sheldon said.

“When an industry fails to act, then government must step in and ban this deadly work. Next week’s meeting of the nation’s workplace ministers is a chance to finally right this terrible wrong.”

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke committed the government to acting urgently and flagged that a ban on imports would be one of the solutions canvassed at the meeting of workplace health and safety ministers on Tuesday.

The Cosentino spokesperson said he had written to Burke supporting a nationally co-ordinated approach to reduce the risks associated with products containing high levels of silica.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.