DUST BOWL KILLER
This young father of six has only months to live. Authorities know why he is dying yet refuse to outlaw the toxic stone he cut so ‘rich guys’ can have flash benchtops. Sadly, there are another 173 stonemasons like him. The number is increasing by the mont
STONE-CUTTER Adam Emery knows he won’t see his six young children grow up.
He is dying from silicosis after long days of inhaling the dust from cheap imported engineered stone.
At age 36, he has only months to live. “If I wanted to risk my life, I would have joined the army and at least I would have died for a good cause,” he says. “Now I feel like I’m dying for some rich f***er’s benchtop.”
A Bulletin investigation has found Mr Emery’s sad tale is a growing problem. There are another 173 young stone-cutters just like him in Queensland. Thirty-two have progressive massive fibrosis and will be dead within five years.
Authorities won’t ban the stone because it is “cheap and mass produced”; workers are scared to lose their jobs by speaking up as it is largely left to employers to ensure staff are screened; and a government agency said it would finally re-audit the industry after inquiries by the Bulletin.
STONEMASON Adam Emery is resigned to missing out on the special things in life: school formals, graduations, weddings and grandchildren.
The father of six has silicosis and has only a few years – possibly months – to live.
“I’ve got a 1.8cm growth in my lung, so this is classed as progressive massive fibrosis and medically I get classed as terminal,” the 36-year-old says. “My life will be cut short dramatically and no one knows how long I have actually got to live.
“If I wanted to risk my life, I would have joined the army and at least I would have died for a good cause. Now I feel like I’m dying for some rich f***er’s benchtop.”
Mr Emery’s sad story is becoming all too familiar. A Bulletin investigation has found there are another 173 young stonecutters just like him in Queensland – and that list is increasing by the month. Thirty-two have progressive massive fibrosis and will be dead within five years.
Authorities know what is killing the young workers but won’t ban engineered stone because it is “cheap and mass produced”.
Workers are scared to lose their jobs by speaking up as it is largely left to employers to ensure staff are screened; and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland said it would finally re-audit the stone benchtop industry – eight months after it was asked to – after inquiries by the Bulletin.
Mr Emery says any measure now is too late to save him. But he does not want to die in vain and is determined to blow the lid on unsafe workplace practices.
Crucially, he wants engineered stone banned in Australia.
“It shouldn’t be coming into the country, full stop. There is no way to work with the product in a safe manner. The industry can survive with marble and granite, it’s only benchtops.
“If they keep manufacturing this stone, then more young men are going to keep getting this disease and won’t live to see their children grow into adults.”
Mr Emery has been exposed to deadly silica dust at various workplaces for 20 years, having started his stonemasonry apprenticeship on the Gold Coast when just 16.
Mr Emery said he was not shocked to learn of his diagnosis just before Christmas last year as he was finding it difficult to complete a day’s work or to play with his kids for more than five minutes.
“I was a wreck for a few days after being diagnosed because no one could give me any answers on whether I had months or years to live,” he said.
The Federal Government said it set up the National Dust Disease Taskforce to investigate those at risk in the industry. The taskforce has flagged five interim recommendations and 17 findings, including examining if the importation of engineered stone products should be banned in Australia. A final report is due by mid-2021.
Mr Emery said when he started in the industry, highrises on the Gold Coast were mainly fitted out with natural stone such as marble and granite. By 2001, engineered stone had become popular.
“The first time I cut a piece of it there was a weird smell and I said to my boss ‘it’s going to be the next asbestos’.
“I was told ‘you’re 16, you don’t get paid to think, you get paid to work’. But I could smell the toxicity.” Mr Emery recalls being covered in silica dust “like a snowman”, with protective equipment rarely supplied by employers or worksites.
He has travelled throughout Queensland for work, but recently sought tiling work in an attempt to avoid having to work with engineered stone, which contains up to 95 per cent silica dust.
“I was never taught about silica during my apprenticeship and everything was dry-cut back then with no protective PPE gear offered.
“Despite the fact drycutting is now banned, I still see it happening every day.
“Occasionally, you get supplied with a paper mask, but it’s never enforced or a requirement.
“Some bosses were a little bit more accepting of PPE but others didn’t acknowledge it.
“But if you said anything it was a good way to get sacked.
At one stage I questioned it and my boss ended up sacking me on the spot because he thought I was becoming a whinger.”
Following his diagnosis through WorkCover Queensland, Mr Emery is no longer allowed to return to his trade or any industry to do with dust or silica, the only thing he has ever known.
“I can’t even get my earthmoving tickets because of the dust. Even working inside in my industry isn’t allowed because I’m not allowed on job sites. I’ve never done office work so I couldn’t think of anything worse for myself. But I’ve got no choice, I’ve got child support payments.”
IF I WANTED TO RISK MY LIFE, I WOULD HAVE JOINED THE ARMY AND AT LEAST I WOULD HAVE DIED FOR A GOOD CAUSE. NOW I FEEL LIKE I’M DYING FOR SOME RICH F***ER’S BENCHTOP
SILICOSIS SUFFERER ADAM EMERY
STONEMASON Adam Emery is being stalked by a stone-cold killer that most people don’t give any thought to as they use their kitchens and bathrooms.
He has silicosis, with his particular disease – progressive massive fibrosis – classed medically as terminal.
It is a death sentence tragically foretold in his own words 20 years ago when, as a teenager just new to the industry, instinct told him the engineered stone people in his trade were working with more and more could be “the next asbestos”.
That comment brought a swift rebuke from his boss.
The popular product is still very much in vogue because it looks good in a wide range of colours.
Kitchens and bathrooms look a million dollars, even though the stone is relatively cheap. But as he says, despite directives that have banned dry cutting to protect stonemasons,
“I still see it happening every day.
Mr Emery and others with the disease want engineered stone banned.
He has been told he has little chance of surviving long enough to see his children grow to graduate and attend their formals.
He wants governments, regulators and employers to do the right thing in protecting workers from the ravages caused by the silica dust that often left him looking “like a snowman”.
But best intentions in any industry do not always translate into reality in a world where business survival depends on the bottom line.
Workplace Health and Safety, prompted by Bulletin inquiries, says it will re-audit the stone benchtop industry.
The State Government’s Office of Industrial Relations is happy to list action taken in developing a code of practice and setting up registers, but when it comes to any suggestion of banning importation of the product, the Government flicks that decision to Canberra.
A national dust disease taskforce has been set up, but pressure on the Commonwealth health authorities to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed its recommendations.
CFMEU boss Royce Kupsch warns that stonemasons will continue to contract silicosis, which can be fatal, unless there is a “strong cop on the beat” to enforce codes of practice that actually protect workers from exposure to dangerous levels of silica dust. The Bulletin agrees.
In dealing with a known killer, there is no time to waste and industry cannot allow bad practices to continue, simply for the sake of cutting corners and protecting the bottom line.
Audit checks should not be limited to a sample here and there occasionally.
They must be regular and widespread – and penalties have to be of a magnitude that frightens any cowboys left in the industry into doing the right thing.