Silicosis in tradespeople working with engineered stone has been described as 'the next asbestos' in Australia - now a lawyer for the first UK patients warns it is a 'major issue' here too
Daniel Easton, a partner with Leigh Day, is representing the first UK patients to have been diagnosed with silicosis after working with the stone. The long-term lung disease is caused by inhaling large amounts of crystalline silica dust, which is created while cutting the slabs.: “We may be sitting on an epidemic of silicosis that’s going to become a major issue over the next couple of years. There are signs that we may be starting down a similar road to Australia.
Specialist water cutting techniques can suppress the spread of dust during manufacturing, but dry cutting can leave workers exposed to harmful amounts of silica dust. “It just raises the question of whether or not we really need this new material in the environment when it has such well-documented disastrous health effects.”