Engineered stone import ban to be discussed at national ministers’ meeting

Banning the importation of engineered stone will be discussed by federal, state and territory ministers during a meeting on workplace health and safety next week.

Federal Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke committed his government to address the deadly threat of silica dust from manufactured kitchen benchtops, saying the need for action was urgent.

“The Albanese Labor government is deeply concerned about the spread of silicosis among Australian workers,” Burke said.

“We want a co-ordinated national response to this issue. That’s why I’ve put silicosis on the agenda at next week’s meeting of workplace health and safety ministers.

“A potential ban on imported manufactured stone products containing silica is one of the options we will discuss, along with stronger regulations across all industries where workers are exposed to silica. I have met with injured workers. It’s clear we need to do more – urgently.”

A joint investigation between this masthead and 60 Minutes aired the stories of workers battling the debilitating symptoms of the lung disease, while state-based regulators fail to effectively police workplaces to guard against the dangers associated with ingesting engineered stone.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the federal government was open to a ban but would first monitor its new response, which only launched this year and was focused on educating the health worker community.

The federal government earlier this month committed $3.9 million to a prevention and awareness strategy which will be led by the Lung Foundation Australia, in response to a National Dust Disease Taskforce report from 2021 that recommended urgent action on the issue.

The federal taskforce, which included Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly, reported almost a quarter of engineered stone workers who had been in the industry since before 2018 were suffering from silicosis or other silica dust-related diseases.

Its report said the government should consider a full ban on importing some engineered stone products by July 2024 if there was no measurable improvement in compliance or disease.

Butler on Monday said the government wanted to monitor its new strategy closely, given it was only in very early stages, but he was aware of concerns that the current safeguards were failing, companies weren’t following safety requirements, and people were dying as a result.

He said he and Burke were open to further action and had both asked their departments to probe whether the existing efforts were sufficient.

“We’re taking a very open mind to this, to make sure that we have the strongest possible response,” he said on ABC Radio Perth.

“But as the health minister of the country, obviously, my overarching priority is protecting the health of Australians. So if, frankly, that response isn’t sufficient, if it moves too slowly, then we’ll have to take further action.”

The union movement and scientists called for engineered stone to be banned to combat the risk of Australian workers contracting the deadly dust disease.

Zach Smith, the incoming head of the national construction union, is calling on the federal government to ban the importation of engineered stone “as soon as possible”, ahead of a slated, union-led ban on the use of the product by July 2024.

Smith, who will take over as CFMMEU construction division secretary from Dave Noonan in April, said there was no safe level of exposure or usage of engineered stone.

“It must be banned, that is the only way we can keep workers safe,” Smith said. “Workers have a right to refuse work that imposes a risk to their health and safety, and we’ll be talking to our members about exercising that right.”

He described companies manufacturing engineered stone as “morally bankrupt”.

“They know the death and destruction that their product is causing, and they absolutely need to be held accountable for that,” he said. “The government should move as soon as possible to ban the importation or manufacture of engineered stone.”

ACTU secretary Sally McManus tweeted on Sunday night: “Young tradies are being killed for fashion benchtops. It’s time to ban engineered stone. Nothing is worth the lives of workers.”

Speaking to media on Monday morning, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the dangers of silica dust weren’t new, “but I think the gravity of the issue is no doubt there”.

Perrottet said the state’s workplace safety regulator, SafeWork, had been “actively engaged” in the issue, despite the investigation showing little improvement in managing risks had been made.

“Ultimately, from my perspective, there needs to be a national response, and we’ll work very closely with our national counterparts to ensure that issues in relation to silicosis are dealt with appropriately,” he said.

Workers in tunnelling projects are also prone to the dangers of silica dust. Perrottet said the government would ensure going forward that all workers involved in the infrastructure pipeline had appropriate protections in place.

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