Business Leaders hear about the Vic Government’s OHS achievements, and about OHS is the Arts

October is Australia’s workplace safety month. It operates under different names in different States, but they all started on October 1 2019. These months are almost exclusively about marketing and SafetyAtWorkBlog’s Inbox has received a lot of generic statements about the importance of occupational health and safety (OHS) but with little information about how to …

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Australian silicosis research mirrored in the US

At the end of October 2019 the Australia New Zealand Society of Occupational Medicine (ANZSOM) will be conducting its annual scientific meeting in Adelaide. There are many issues on the agenda but silicosis is likely to figure prominently as it did last year, and as it should. The politics, knowledge and regulatory action has changed …

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Keep talking and making submissions – what to ask about dust

Government attention on the risks of silicosis, especially those related to engineered stone, continues to increase. Australia has established a National Dust Disease Taskforce to investigate the risks and to make recommendations to the government at the end of 2020. A national investigation is warranted but occupational health and safety (OHS) is regulated at State …

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Time to ban synthetic stone

Professor Malcolm Sim of Monash University spoke at the 2019 National Work Health and Safety Colloquium on an issue that he never imagined he would be speaking of, at his age, silicosis. As it is in several countries, the emergence of silicosis related to synthetic stone is gradually getting the attention of governments as more, …

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Dust clouds on kitchen benchtops

The Victorian Government has announced that various safety initiatives are being taken on the silicosis risks associated with products described as synthetic stone. This initiative is an important first step in reducing the exposure of workers to silicosis but there are some curiosities in the announcement and WorkSafe Victoria’s accompanying Information Sheet. The core elements …

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Political tennis on silicosis begins

It was reported on October 11 2018 that Australia’s Health Minister, Greg Hunt, has called for: “… state workplace regulators to immediately investigate risks to the health of stonemasons, and stop unsafe work practices.” Some reports have said that a statement was issued: “Mr Hunt issued a statement saying he and the Chief Medical Officer would …

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By looking at the silicosis tree, we might miss the forest of dust

Rumours of a TV report on the increasing hazards of silicosis have floated around for a week or so.  On October 10 2018, the show appeared on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s 7.30 program.  But the story is much bigger than the ten minutes or so on that program. The focus is understandably on silica but …

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