Engineered stone provider fined $375,000 over silica dust exposure
17 May 2024•BlueSafe Team•Source: SafeWork NSW
Edstein Creative Pty Ltd has been fined $375,000 for exposing a worker to the risk of serious illness from silica dust over six years and 10 months.
The engineered stone provider pleaded guilty in December 2023 after failing to take reasonably practicable steps to minimise the worker’s exposure to airborne respirable crystalline silica.
The failures involved work to install engineered stone products, including cutting, grinding, drilling and polishing. The company did not adequately minimise the risk of exposure during these tasks.
SafeWork NSW began the proceedings in 2021 in the NSW District Court. They were the first proceedings in NSW concerning silica dust exposure under section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), for a failure to comply with the duty under section 19(1).
Silicosis is caused by breathing in small particles of silica dust and can have devastating effects on the lungs. Its increasing prevalence in the engineered stone industry, and the growth in deadly silicosis over the past decade, prompted NSW, the other states and territories, and the Commonwealth to unanimously agree to ban engineered stone from 1 July.
SafeWork NSW also reported that it had recently completed two successful prosecutions concerning workplace crystalline silica dust exposure. A number of matters remained before the District Court or under active investigation.
Inspectors are continuing compliance inspections across the engineered stone industry, including site visits and penalties for non-compliant operators.
Head of SafeWork NSW Trent Curtin said the upcoming ban was a significant step in tackling silicosis. He said inspectors would continue taking a zero-tolerance approach to workers’ lives being endangered by crystalline silica dust exposure.
“These recent prosecutions demonstrate SafeWork’s commitment to ensuring that employers who do not take safety seriously will face consequences.”
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