The Australian Council of Trade Unions Endorses a National Silica Ban from 1 July 2024
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The Australian Council of Trade Unions have reached a resolution endorsing the CFMMEU’s ‘Stop this Killer Stone’ campaign.
The CFMMEU has launched the ‘Stop this Killer Stone’ campaign with a view to ban all engineered stone products at a workplace level. The ban is proposed to support workplace safety as engineered stone usually have a high concentration of silica which may cause silicosis if workers are exposed to it.
The CFMMEU requires the Federal Government to ban all engineered stone products by 1 July 2024, failing which it will lead a union-led ban which will involve:
- Union members across all states and territories pro-actively blocking the transportation of silica containing material;
- Union members will not allow engineered stone to be transported or used in building sites across Australia;
- The CFMMEU instructing its members to exercise their rights under the Work Health and Safety legislation and cease unsafe work.
Safe Work Australia provided a final report to the Federal Government in August 2023 with their recommendations regarding an overall ban of silica, although what these recommendations have not been made public.
At date hereof the Federal Government has not provided a response to the overall ban of engineered stone products.
