TUC calls for action on deadly dust

The TUC is calling for a review of current dust exposure limits and for improved enforcement of them to tackle deadly levels of dust in UK workplaces.

Guidance sent to all union safety reps by the TUC explains that there is clear scientific evidence that current dust exposure standards are inadequate. This is backed by the independent not-for-profit Institute of Medicine (IOM). Specifically it has been shown that a range of dusts including coal dust, kaolin, silica and talc cause lung disease even at exposure levels within the current “safe” limit.

The IOM has stated that “the current British occupational exposure limits for airborne dust are unsafe and employers should attempt to reduce exposures to help prevent further cases of respiratory disease amongst their workers.”

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Because disease and death caused by the various types of dust can take many years to develop, both employers and regulators take them far less seriously than deaths caused by injury, yet they are just as tragic for both the workers and their families. Each and every one of these thousands of deaths caused by dusts is avoidable. Given the scale of the problem we need an urgent examination of both the current standards and their enforcement.”