Fiona Hore-Lacy, Stella May Gwini, Christina Dimitriadis, Javier Jimenez-Martin, Ryan F Hoy, Jane Fisher, Malcolm R Sim, Karen Walker-Bone, Deborah C Glass
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: Workers in the stone benchtop industry in Australia are at high risk of silicosis due to exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) from the dry processing of artificial stone. In Victoria, Australia, a multifaceted response including education, regulatory changes, inspection site visits, and occupational health screening programme began in 2019. We aimed to review the success of this approach to safety practices in the industry.
Methods: Data were available from 2 sources: first, responses provided by workers during their occupational health screening (2019 to 2024), which included a systematic occupational history. Jobs examined included roles in the stone benchtop industry with RCS exposure and were analysed in relation to reported safety practices pre and postregulatory changes in August 2019, which prohibited unrestricted dry cutting. Second, data were obtained from the Regulator describing the numbers of visits to industry worksites and the numbers and types of compliance notices issued between 2018 and 2024.
Results: In total, 1921 jobs from 1007 workers were eligible for analysis, of which 869 were prior to the 2019 regulatory change and 557 commenced after. The proportion of workers reporting "never" dry cutting rose from 17.3% to 67.2% (P < 0.001), use of recommended ventilation and respirator increased from 26.0% to 36.5% (P < 0.001), and 44.9% to 86.5% (P < 0.001), respectively. Of the 543 worksites visited (2757 site visits in total), 352 (64.8%) received at least one compliance notice and the types of notices varied over time. Administrative controls/housekeeping and health monitoring notices were the most common in 2019 to 2021 but tools/equipment notices increased substantially in 2022 onwards.
Discussion: Prior to the changes, a large proportion of jobs involved unrestricted dry processing of artificial stone with inadequate protection. After the changes, practices improved although some jobs continued to involve dry processing without adequate control of dust.
Conclusions: This multifaceted approach vastly improved safety practices in the stone benchtop industry over 5 years. These data are relevant to occupational health and safety professionals and regulators in countries where artificial stone is used and potentially for implementation of new measures in response to a new workplace hazard in future.
期刊介绍：
About the Journal
Annals of Work Exposures and Health is dedicated to presenting advances in exposure science supporting the recognition, quantification, and control of exposures at work, and epidemiological studies on their effects on human health and well-being. A key question we apply to submission is, "Is this paper going to help readers better understand, quantify, and control conditions at work that adversely or positively affect health and well-being?"
We are interested in high quality scientific research addressing:
the quantification of work exposures, including chemical, biological, physical, biomechanical, and psychosocial, and the elements of work organization giving rise to such exposures;
the relationship between these exposures and the acute and chronic health consequences for those exposed and their families and communities;
populations at special risk of work-related exposures including women, under-represented minorities, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups such as temporary, contingent and informal sector workers;
the effectiveness of interventions addressing exposure and risk including production technologies, work process engineering, and personal protective systems;
policies and management approaches to reduce risk and improve health and well-being among workers, their families or communities;
methodologies and mechanisms that underlie the quantification and/or control of exposure and risk.
There is heavy pressure on space in the journal, and the above interests mean that we do not usually publish papers that simply report local conditions without generalizable results. We are also unlikely to publish reports on human health and well-being without information on the work exposure characteristics giving rise to the effects. We particularly welcome contributions from scientists based in, or addressing conditions in, developing economies that fall within the above scope.
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