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Silicosis is an industrial injury linked to emphysema (COPD) which many people associate with coal mining, however, it is also a serious hazard to construction workers and builders.
Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is most prevalent in sand, sandstone and granite and found in clay, shale and slate so building products such as concrete and mortar also will contain silica which can be released into the atmosphere when tools are used for building work.
Users of modern robust power tools, including DIY-ers, might not realise they are vulnerable to contracting silicosis and, as the effects may not become apparent for months or even years, if their illness is through the fault or negligence of someone else, they may not realise they could be eligible to make a damages claim to ease their suffering or loss of earnings.
Originally known as Potter's Rot when it was first recognised in Italy in the eighteenth century, silicosis is the oldest-known industrial disease dating from when Bernardino Ramazzini linked sand in the lungs of stonemasons to their fatal illnesses.
It is also the hazard most widely-spread across the world because of the extensive distribution of silica in the natural make-up of the earth's minerals. Although its risks have been realised in the western world for two hundred years, this chronic lung disease is still a menace in the developing world where health and safety precautions are not strictly adhered to or are insufficiently understood.
The industrial and construction processes which can lead to a worker being exposed to silica dust include stone masonry, blast-cleaning of buildings and surfaces using sand, demolition processes, cutting or drilling into concrete and tunnelling, especially into dry rock.
The damaging effect is exacerbated if the work is being done in a poorly-ventilated or confined area.
For general building workers, risky operations can encompass drilling into brickwork using jackhammers to break concrete indoors, chasing out mortar between bricks, cutting paving kerbs, blue bricks or breeze blocks, cutting concrete with a wall or floor saw as well as tasks associated with clearance which create dust such as concrete crushing and removing rubble.
Breathing in high concentrations of the dust in either a short or long period of time can lead to scarring of the lung tissue and the breathing difficulties of emphysema. Silicosis sufferers usually become house-bound because of their lack of lung function and often die of heart attacks because of the strain on their systems. It has also been linked to the development of lung cancer.
In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is well aware of the dangers of silica dust and keeps employers aware of their legal duties to protect workers from personal injury. It specifies a maximum exposure limit over eight hours and says that wherever possible dust should be reduced.
Capturing or controlling the dust at source is the modern method of suppressing silica when using tools, coupled with personal protective equipment. An airline and full face mask may be needed in a particularly-dusty atmosphere and men with beards or stubble should be aware that the effectiveness of a filtering or half-mask is greatly reduced by the hair on their faces.
Protective clothing should be supplied and used to prevent contamination of ordinary clothes and facilities for washing and changing should be available on site. Workers may also need reminding of the importance of personal hygiene to ensure dust is removed before eating, drinking, smoking and using the toilet.
Official figures for people newly-diagnosed with silicosis and being eligible for industrial injury benefit in 2008 was 85 in the whole of the UK but this is believed to be very much an under-estimate of those affected, however, it is hoped that with greater recognition of the dangers associated with working in dust-laden atmospheres and better protection, the number of cases will begin to dwindle as have the number of compensation claims for miners from an earlier generation who suffered specifically from pneumoconiosis.
