WORKERS are being put at risk of contracting lung cancer or other respiratory diseases because of a failure by watchdogs to bring in adequate safeguards against a toxic workplace dust.
Academics at a Scottish university have strongly criticised the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over its recommended safe level of exposure to the substance crystalline silica, a powder created when working with bricks, concrete and plaster.
Experts now say the current standard of 0.1 mg/m³ is too low.
Silica is second only to asbestos as a cause of occupational cancer deaths and exposure can cause a range of other illnesses including silicosis, tuberculosis, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and arthritis.
The HSE claims that technological limitations mean it is impractical to monitor for its presence below the exposure standard, while some industry bodies have argued that the cost of implementing these new controls would be prohibitive.
But Professor Rory O'Neill, Stirling University's Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Research Group and author of a new report on the substance, said: "The HSE says monitoring technology isn't good enough yet to measure lower levels of silica dust, so we must stick with the same deadly, higher but measurable standard. It is wrong on both counts. The increasingly toothless safety watchdog is regurgitating the line promoted by the industry lobby, placing vested interests above workers' health.
"Modern science can obtain and analyse dust on Mars. If HSE's science can't obtain and analyse adequately one of the most commonly encountered and deadly workplace dust exposures here on Earth, you have to ask who on Earth is the watchdog protecting?"
He called on the HSE to follow the lead of the American Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and implement a rule change that would cut the recommended safety level in half.
Researcher Professor Andrew Watterson said: "OSHA says a tighter standard is perfectly possible, can be monitored in the workplace and would save hundreds of lives and billions each year.
"The current lax legal occupational exposure standard in the UK guarantees another generation will be blighted by entirely preventable, deadly and disabling conditions. Yet the HSE is actively promoting an industry-supported but unsustainable argument that the current standard must stay."
The call for tighter controls has been backed by workplace safety campaigners.
Michelle Aldous, Chief Executive of the recently-established Constructing Better Health Scotland, said: "If it is indeed technically possible to measure silica at lower levels than we currently are.
"However, there is also much more we could be doing at a practical level to protect construction workers from exposure to this risk. Walk down any high street and you will see construction workers generating dust while working on-site, equipped with a hard hat, gloves and high visibility vest but often without a dust mask or water suppression to protect themselves against silica exposure.
"These are the sort of simple, common-sense measures the industry ought to be applying as standard which would help to manage exposure to occupational health risks."
A spokeswoman for the HSE said: "Health and Safety law requires employers to assess the risk of exposure to silica dust in their workplace and prevent it, when prevention is not possible exposure must be controlled.
"There is a UK workplace exposure limit for silica of 0.1 mg m-3, and employers must reduce exposure to below this level.
"With the required exposure controls in place silica dust is usually reduced to significantly below 0.1 mg m-3."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article