Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations has written to all state and territory governments urging them to implement health screening programs in their jurisdictions for past and present workers in the engineered stone industry. In addition, Safe Work Australia has prioritised action to address the risks posed by dust exposure in the workplace, including in the engineered stone industry. This agency is developing strategies to raise awareness of the duties and control measures for minimising respiratory silica dust in the workplace. This includes strategies to raise awareness of control measures to eliminate and minimise risk from respiratory silica dust; prioritising occupational lung disease, including silicosis, in the Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012-2022; and updating health monitoring guides for silica and developing campaigns to help educate those in the workplace.