IMPROVING SILICOSIS OUTCOMES IN THE UK
In 2020, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Respiratory Health (APPG) issued the report “Silica, the next asbestos?”, which examined the disproportionate effect of silica dust to construction workers’ lives.
Since the publication of that report, the APPG were contacted by a number of experts on the subject matter, including ourselves, who highlighted the advances in risk reduction and the particularly promising rise of real-time dust and silica monitoring technology.
The new, revised report, titled “Improving Silicosis Outcomes in the UK” also explored these new silicosis prevention strategies, including some input from Trolex on the subject matter. From this, the APPG raised several clinical and regulatory recommendations to protect workers from the dangers of occupational silicosis going forward.
“Trolex believe that the most obvious and immediate benefit of real-time monitoring is in improving safety for those potentially exposed to silica in the workplace…We recommend that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) assess and determine the data and technology needed to allow the UK to reduce the WEL for work with silica to 0.05mg/m³.”
Jim Shannon, MP
Chair APPG, All-Party Parliamentary Group for Respiratory Health
REAL-TIME DATA FOR EFFECTIVE CONTROLS
The recommendations from the APPG’s report indicate numerous changes need to be made to improve safety across all UK industries which use silica. These recommendations focus on both ways to prevent exposure to dangerous respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in the workplace, including improvements in education, real-time monitoring and reducing exposure limits, as well as improving health and support for those who currently suffer with silicosis.
By working with the authors of the APPG to share the features, benefits and thinking behind the development of real-time silica monitoring technology, together we’re able to provide new evidence for this report the report with fitting advice and supporting of reducing exposure to respirable crystalline silica in the workplace.