Hundreds at risk of fatal silicosis after cutting stone for kitchen worktops

Marek Marzec is a Polish stonemason who came to this country in search of work 13 years ago.

He found it - in the cutting rooms of kitchen worktop suppliers.

Now he's lying in a hospital bed and dying - his lungs ravaged by fatal silicosis caused by the dust he breathed in whilst he shaped lengths of engineered stone to order.

His case is far from the only one. It's thought hundreds of workers are at risk as many suppliers fail to install proper protective measures.

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[WhichDoctor]

i went to a pottery class at a local college several decades back, and the pottery teacher hammered into all us students heads to not allow dry clay dust anywhere. Because clay dust in the air causes silicosis. So we had to wipe down every surface that had clay residue on it religiously, and any bit of dry clay that wasn't heading for the kiln would have to go into a bucket of water before anything else could happen to it. Silicosis isn't a new disease, every industry that deals with rock or clay dust knows about it and has done for 50+ years. If workers are dying of it, then the necessary protections arent being implemented, no matter what the companies say. The dead and dying speak truths the employers can't deny

[fuckbankers]

The companies involved should be prosecuted under health and safety legislation.

[hawkeye]

"There's no extractor & if you don't like it you can just leave. " Sick. That man had kids to support.

[------country-boy-------]

Stone and tile is supposed to be cut with water to prevent airborne dust.

[shan]

The owner of that company should be in jail! Thank you for speaking up.

[Pootie_Tang]

I am speaking to you, fellas, from Ukraine, I'm born and raised in Donetsk, the city of coal miners. Unfortunately, not everywhere in the world peaople as concerned and aware of mineral dust damage potential to human lung as folks living in mining communities or in towns, where majority of population works in a field of mineral polishing/cutting/etc. Please, take it seriously, I'm talking construction, demolition, mining, scculpture, polishing etc. etc. It's no joke and there's no cure for it really. Many of my countrymen fell to this, in its core "coal lung" is not much different from any other small particle dust/mineral dust lung damage disease.

I'm really grateful to you, Marek, for finding it necessary anddd finding streangth also in these hard times for you to speak out and make it heard by the ppublic once more, I wish you piece of mind and nothing but the best for you and your loved ones!

Also, big thank you to the journalists who made this possible 🤝

Also, I'm really happy to hear there are at least talks to form some sort of a national registry of those who are prone to develop such condition and the regulating measures to prevent it! I hope other ountries will foolow as soon as possible! This has been an unseen epidemic for far too long!

[IsaLinaLuna]

this came out in australia years ago, it’s fucking shameful no-one in the UK acted on that.

[janoginski]

Silicosis has been around for a very long time. In the old days Quarry men working on Sandstone, suffered from Silicosis & had very short Life spans. I’m from a building background & in my experience, people tend not to take enough care to mitigate the risk. I think you will find that many who have worked as stonemasons or brickys or in stone yards will have related conditions. Appropriate masks, extraction & water suppression can go a long way in protecting the individual. The very best protection is by using an Airstream helmet, expensive but well worth the outlay, I used to have one, they have a full face sealed visor with 2 separate air/particle filters one course & a large fine filters inside the helmet, air is drawn through by a small battery powered fan motor. They are absolutely brilliant. This is what I would recommend, from long personal experience of using them in environments where a lot of air dust is prevalent.

[CharlieHarper-dx]

I recently quit a company called Biotage in south Wales because of this issue. The job involved scooping pure silica dust out of boxes to then pour it into a larger vessels using a jug by hand then banging the outside with a mallet to make the dust compact down in the vessel. They did have an extractor fan but no masks available. After an hour I could feel the stuff in the back of my throat and up my nose. By the end of the day the dust coated my clothes and the floor.

[markgravenor]

So sad to hear about this ! As an anaesthesiologist who recently had respiratory failure from a severe viral chest infection; I empathise with this poor man .

[mpat]

Blessings for Marek and all affected by this condition.

[globalist]

Someone needs to go to jail. Rotten bosses.

[colinsace]

This poor guy come to the uk to better his life and now he’s dying from silica dust, I feel so bad for him and his poor family.
28yrs old is so young sounds worse than asbestos I hope he can be saved with a lung transplant 🙏🏻

[vice.nor.virtue]

I just finished my CSCS (construction health and safety course) a few weeks ago, and silicosis came up as one of the diseases you can develop as a result of unsafe working environments. Its alarming seeing something that feels slightly abstract in a test paper make its way through the headlines. This is terrible, I can't believe their working conditions were so unsafe, especially in the UK where H&S standards are supposedly "rediculous".

[royharpershat]

There's a short film made about the Brooklyn Tunnel in the U.S. This film was made in the early 1900's it followed a worker who had contracted silicosis. This disease has been known about for at least over a century.

[ItsJADA]

We've just placed a ban on engineered stone in Australia. Poor guy.

One of the largest producers essa stone is an Israel owned company. Look at the ABC Australia report for more info

[NeonStormTV]

My dad worked for a company in Winnipeg and cut stone for a living. On a few occasions when I went in for him to sign papers for my first rent place or other stuff, he had little to no masks. Even with the occasional mask they had, the dust gets in.

Unfortunately, this hard working mad died of stage 4 osteosarcoma and leukemia from a combination of work related and self inflicted issues. I miss you dad.

[soundseeker]

Poor guy! 😞 To learn this kind of thing is happening in the UK in 2024 is truly shocking.... These risks have been known about for decades so any company asking employees to work in toxic conditions without adequate PPE needs charging with manslughter and shutting down. Completely inexcusible in this day and age!

[RonvirBilkhu]

The building and decorating industry in the UK is like the Wild Wild West.

[luns]

We’ve already banned this in Australia