Employers warned over risks of stone dust

THE Health and Safety Executive is warning employers whose workers use silica-based materials to take correct safety precautions to protect them.

It follows a court case that saw a York stonemasons ordered to pay 36,000 after two employees who breathed in stone dust were left suffering devastating life-long lung diseases.

William Anelay Limited, of Murton Way, Osbaldwick, was fined 30,000 and ordered to pay a further 6,000 after pleading guilty at York Crown Court to the serious health and safety breaches.

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The court had heard the two employees, who had been stonemasons at the company for more than a decade, fell ill after being exposed to uncontrolled levels of respirable crystalline silica, which is caused primarily by dry stone carving without extraction ventilation or use of protective equipment.

One of the men was left with disabilities so severe he was forced to take early retirement while the other has been unable to return to work as a stonemason.

The court also heard the high levels of airborne silica had been identified 14 years earlier during a monitoring survey but subsequent measures taken to protect employees were not adequate.

HSE Inspector Julian Franklin said: "This verdict shows the working practices at William Anelay Ltd were inadequate and dangerous.

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"A combination of dry stone cutting with no ventilation or use of protective clothing resulted in the workers breathing in hazardous levels of respirable crystalline silica.

"This was allowed to happen for many years, which has meant that not only do both men have to cope with life-long, serious health issues which will affect them for the rest of their lives, their careers have also been affected.

"Had the company acted on the information they received after a survey in 1994, these men may not now be suffering from serious illnesses."