Engineered stone ban on the table, as workers and businesses weigh up the cost

Asbestos and lead are threats to the health of the general public. We're talking about threats to the health of workers. The companies that make this material have a right to make it since it has utility that is good for society at large, just like table saws and automobiles.

The onus here is on the person who actively refuses to take proven safety measures, not on the manufacturing of the product itself.

 

Legally? It's on their employers to enforce the rules. Employees don't get a choice other than to follow them or quit. One or the other.

And asbestos for example IS a direct threat to workers. Incidents of asbestosis almost exclusively occured amousgt workers (or the families of workers) involved in the mining, processing or handling/instillation of asbestos or otherwise being in close proximity to it while working. Inside homes and offices etc? Unless physically disturbed oost installation asbestos is fairly benign. The problem being in those situations that its like a land mine. I.e. just lying there waiting for someone to unintentionally disturb it before it 'goes off' and kills people.

 

Well there you go! Just enforce current workplace rules rather than banning engineered stone. Seems to only be a problem for folks who won't wear respirators.

See how easy that was?

 

We use the same products and don't have the same problem. Your OP points out your problem is not that the product's preparation cannot be made safe, your problem is that you've got bogans (which I'm given to understand is the same as a 'redneck' from google) doing dumb **** on the job site and not following established safety practices for handling the substance. Follow established safety practices, don't knee jerk kill an industry because you've got the PTSD.

This would be markedly different from asbestos as a product whose very presence in regular use (ie sitting in a wall) causes problems.
Engineered stone isn't that, and if you wanted to pretend you're not having a knee jerk reaction because of the foolishness surrounding asbestos you're doing a poor job of it.

 

So do we, which is why we have a person whose job it is to make sure the twonks and idiots do the job in a way that doesn't kill them.
The twonks? Tend to HATE this person with a fiery passion normally reserved for children and long term substitute teachers.

I didn't say allow preventable deaths. I said take the safety precautions which your OP says the TWONKS are disregarding which is why they're having an issue.

Want to know what happens if you disregard safety procedures on a job site? You tend to get injured or killed. Is it the fault of someone else if YOU for example didn't tie off your harness when you climbed on the roof and then fell off? Do we need to stop climbing roofs? No, we need a guy whose only job it is to come check your harness like you're a child.

 

Asbestos is a threat to anyone who physically occupies a building with asbestos insulation. Not as high a threat as to someone mining it, but still unacceptable.

Engineered stone isn't that. Wear your damn protective gear.

 

We value freedom. If you think a job is too dangerous, don't take it. And if you do take it, follow the safety procedures and guidelines.

 

The obvious substitute is granite, and that comes mostly from China. Plus granite is not approved for a commercial food surface due to porosity. So... what is left that is not formed from plastic based chemicals that enter the air when dry cut? Glass?

 

What is left is you use the damn PPE and follow the ****ing safety regs and you don't have a problem.
When you disregard safety regs put in place because the substance when mishandled is dangerous, and you receive the injury the safety reg was in place to prevent, these are the consequences of your own willful actions.

 

Found this interesting...but I don't know the current state of enforcement.
Preventing silicosis had always been an OSHA priority. During the years I ran the agency, OSHA had a silica enforcement initiative that made it faster and easier to target inspections at workplaces where exposures were occurring. We knew that silica exposure levels in the small workshops where kitchen and bathroom countertops are fabricated were dangerously high, so high that they were illegal even under the old, weaker standard.

But when the new standard went into effect, instead of increasing inspections, the Trump administration abandoned the special enforcement initiative, and is only now slowly planning to issue a new one. Without a formal initiative, OSHA can inspect a workplace only if a worker complains. Many of the workers in dangerous jobs like these are immigrants, unlikely to ever call OSHA because they fear firing — or worse. This means the agency currently has almost no ability to focus inspections on the workshops where workers are being overexposed to silica dust and developing silicosis.

 

Bottom line it is a horrible shitty way to die - gasping for every breath. And yes I am not surprised about the Trump admin reducing OSHA initiatives - look at the responses here “ why should I care about others dying if it means a cheap bench top”

 

Doesn’t have to come from China

 

In my experience people who value Freedumb over public safety are self centered a holes known as libertarians.

 

So… “freedom to die” is a thing? We prefer freedom to live

 

Thanks for the philosophical input.

 

As I keep saying this attitude of “deaths don’t matter” keeps blowing me away. All people are valuable and should be valued - even “illegal immigrants”. These people do not have the luxury of being able to walk away from a job or being able to report workplace infraction. What is essentially different from slavery if you have to take a dangerous job, cannot leave it and it is putting your life at risk. It is not as if you are not seeing silicosis cases in America - they are just not being reported as frequently as here and Faux news is not talking about it because it would piss off the Ad buyers

 

Well, it is true. If a 30+ person cannot work due to respiratory illness then someone has to pay for his medical care, someone has to pay to support the family, someone has to pay for the funeral etc. plus the government no longer gets income from that family - income that is supporting government initiatives that support YOUR lifestyle

 

And if you are an undocumented worker? Do THEY have the luxury of reporting a boss who wants to cut corners on safety?

 

https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2019/10/29/silicosis-countertop/

It seems that the USA may have an emerging problem

 

It is by difficult if not impossible to regulate a completely safe workplace. Safety training and PPE seems to work the best. Remember....Safety isn't expensive....it is priceless.

 

They are enforced as best they can be across hundreds of sites but at a guess? Our enforcement agencies are no better or worse staffed than yours.

 

That's the drum here but its doesn't seem to be working effectively. Hopefully someone is deep diving into the stats and reports to try and find a reason. The States have to be convinced there's no easily implemented fix that hasn't already been tried before a ban would be agreed to.

 

One of the advantages of a government run UHC is that the government suddenly becomes very interested in keeping people safe. If they are paying for the health care then they start getting interested in keeping people healthy

 

....

 

The problem is that you can't keep everyone healthy. I just don't think putting people out of work is a solution.