By rosebell
With the aim of overseeing and help address silica-related health risks for workers in tunneling projects, a new expert taskforce has been established by the New South Wales government.
Providing expert guidance to prevent and manage silica and other dust-related disease associated with tunneling projects in NSW, will be the works of this taskforce, that is made up of government, medical, industry and union representatives.
Considering that heightened risks for silica-related lung disease is related to major tunneling projects, the taskforce is due to focus on four broad areas of action: better use of data with more transparent access; improved health monitoring; best practice work, health and safety controls; and enhanced compliance.
In order to making an exceedance notification date publicly available and use the data to guide regulatory reform, those responsible for a project must ensure worker access to workplace air monitoring data with SafeWork NSW, whereas SafeWork NSW is also going to partner with the Dust Diseases Board to establish data-driven research.
Through this improved health monitoring workers’ long-term health and safety will be protected and it is also slated to play a key role in informing a continual improvement process for businesses and regulators in dealing with silica dust work health and safety risks. The government says its commitment to the silica worker register is a key initiative to support improved health monitoring for workers.
Intending to guide industry and workers on best practice control measures, SafeWork NSW will review and revise the Tunnels Under Construction Code of Practice. Major tunneling PCBU will regularly meet to share information and experience, and to establish a consistent best practice benchmark across the industry.
Maintaining and reinforcing dedicated resources, SafeWork NSW is going to monitor tunneling and silica respirable crystalline silica dust results to enable optimal work health and safety, while developing a tunneling project silica compliance assessment to establish criteria to assess the safety performance of projects to assist strengthened application of suitable controls to manage risk.
Given to that the engineered stone is also a source of silica dust, currently Australia bans the import of engineered stone products, such as benchtops, slabs and panels, with silica content of more than 1%, which is in follow of the domestic ban on the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone products in July last year. The ban prohibits the manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels slabs containing at least 1% silica.
With the aim of ensuring businesses are complying with the laws, the NSW government is funding a team of silica safety inspectors.
Following inspection of the Silica Compliance Team since September, they conducted 140 inspections, handing out three fines totalling almost A$10,000 for non-compliance. More than 125 improvement notices have been issued and seven prohibition notand ices in workplaces.
The determined budget by government for funding silicosis research and a patient support program is A$5m and the funding, administered collaboratively by icare and the Dust Diseases Board, will be provided over three years to the Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute.
