There’s a fresh push to ban engineered stone commonly used in kitchen benchtops and linked to an incurable lung disease likened to asbestosis.
Engineered stone is cheaper than naturally occurring stone, but silica dust created during the manufacturing process can pose a serious health risk.
Diagnosed cases of silicosis have jumped over the last decade, and unions are calling on state governments to outlaw the material as they push for stronger protections for 600,000 workers exposed to silica dust.
The Construction Forestry Maritime Mining Energy Union is also threatening to ban members from working with engineered stone by mid-next year unless imports are stopped and measures are taken to ensure it is no longer used….