Australian Workers Union set to boost push against silica dust issues on mine sites

Australia’s largest union will kick-start a fight against dust safety loopholes in the mining industry when its high-ranking officials convene in Perth this week. A motion will be tabled at the biennial Australian Workers Union national conference, which starts at Crown on Monday, to affirm that “all workers deserve and require the same level of protection from silica dust exposure regardless of their industry”. The motion states that in September “landmark” reforms about managing exposure to silica dust were passed into law across the country, but “a quirk” in the regulations means “these new requirements do not apply in the mining industry”. AWU WA branch secretary Brad Gandy said mining workers deserve the same level of protection as everyone else. “One area in which we need progress is in silica, over the past year we have seen all States and Territories agree to ban the production and supply of high-risk engineered stone products and regulation about exposure to silica in tunnelling,” he told The West Australian. “But employers in mining are hiding behind the use of separate laws to regulate this industry to uphold outdated and inadequate work health and safety standards. “The AWU will keep fighting until it has secured justice for all workers exposed to silica-related harms.” Crystalline silica granules are about 100 times smaller than a grain of sand and if inhaled can cause diseases like lung cancer and silicosis. The West Australian earlier this month revealed that mining activity at Fortescue’s Iron Bridge magnetite project in WA’s north had been curtailed over silica dust fears. The average in-situ silica content of the ore at Iron Bridge’s North Star, Eastern Limb and West Star deposits is more than 40 per cent. Iron Bridge is being heavily scrutinised by mine safety inspectors amid concerns of inadequate measures to prevent workers from breathing in the deadly dust. Sources say the lack of adequate respirators and faulty dust suppression equipment has increasingly been an issue at the $5.9 billion operation, leading WorkSafe to recently intervene. A spokesman for WorkSafe confirmed an investigation and subsequent regulatory action took place in September. Fortescue chair Andrew Forrest says the company is “all over” the silica dust health concerns “like nappy rash”. The AWU has about 76,000 members across Australia and is trying to re-establish a foothold in the Pilbara via an ongoing fight with BHP.