“Nobody uses water,” one man in a Dodgers cap said in Spanish when Maria Cabrera approached, holding flyers about silicosis, an incurable and suffocating disease that has devastated dozens of workers across the state and killed men who have barely reached middle age.
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The disease dates back centuries, but researchers say the booming popularity of countertops made of engineered stone, which has much higher concentrations of silica than many kinds of natural stone, has driven a new epidemic of an accelerated form of the suffocating illness. As the dangerous dust builds up and scars the lungs, the disease can leave workers short of breath, weakened and ultimately suffering from lung failure.
“You can get a transplant,” Cabrera told the man in Spanish, “but it won’t last.”
In California, it has begun to debilitate young workers, largely Latino immigrants who cut and polish slabs of engineered stone. Instead of cropping up in people in their 60s or 70s after decades of exposure, it is now afflicting men in their 20s, 30s or 40s, said Dr. Jane Fazio, a pulmonary critical care physician who became alarmed by cases she saw at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. Some California patients have died in their 30s.
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The answer here is simple- regulations with teeth.
Every saw uses water. Every worker wears a mask. Random inspections.
Inspector sees one person without a mask? $1000 fine. One machine with no water hooked up? $5000 fine. 10 people with no masks and 3 machines with no water hooked up? $25,000 fine. Make it clear that there is no fucking around here.
Job site like described in the article? Shut down until problems fixed.
I’d further add personally liability of all supervisors, managers and executives. You run such an operation and cannot prove without a doubt that you instructed for safety, provided the necessary tools and materials and did regulary inspections yourself? You pay for everyones treatment and damages.
I did construction very briefly (“briefly” because the company owner quit paying me after a while); companies cut corners every possible place they can, because any safety measures cost time or productivity. Even doing things properly costs time and money that they don’t want to spend. Construction is competitive, so they’re bidding as low as possible, and promising unrealistic delivery times, and then turning around and expecting their workers to make those deadlines and costs.
You can’t fix this without stringent oversight, and criminal prosecution for the owners that are refusing to give workers the correct tools, and follow safety protocols.
Ironically the virus scare made N95s unobtanium or very expensive for several years there. Gonna guess that didn’t help with safety compliance amongst the mostly low-income people doing this kind of work.
That is sad to hear. I live in an area where almost no one wore masks. Even at the hight of the pandemic. Our local pharmacies got a bunch of N95s for free to give away free. There was supposed to be a limit but since no one was using them they would give me a lot of extra. I’m guessing they still have boxes stacked up somewhere.
Its also sad that this could have probably been prevented by using a wet saw with water hooked up. Anyone who has cut stone once without a wet saw walks away knowing they shouldn’t have been breathing that.
The fucked up part of this is how preventable it is. Very few folks will take to wearing a mask though, when that’s all they need.
Here’s the full set of measures recommended:
Workplace safety regulators have recommended a suite of measures including water spraying systems, ventilation and vacuum systems to clear dust, in addition to protective respirators for workers — ones covering the entire face if silica levels in the air are high.
I worked for a few spray-foam insulation companies in my early 20’s. I’m just waiting to hear the same thing from spray foam. Half the guys I worked with didn’t wear masks most of the time and were just covered in foam all day breathing in the off gassing of fire retardents and blowing agents and other nasty chemicals. I quit because I saw the writing on the wall and my boss hated me for quitting before training my replacement. I told him it wasn’t worth my health.
to debilitate young workers, largely Latino immigrants
in an industry where immigrant workers typically labor in small shops and are often paid in cash
made their rounds at the parking lot of the Home Depot in San Fernando, where laborers in long-sleeve shirts waited for people to drive up and offer them work.
In the effort to be politically correct and not say “illegal immigrants”, they prevent the reader from knowing the true extent of the problem.
When an employer is willing to break employment laws related to immigration, they may also be more likely to break other laws, like workplace safety laws. When the employees are illegal immigrants, they’re not as able to complain to authorities when their employers are breaking safety laws.
If these workers were actual legal immigrants, they could blow the whistle on their employers. If they were unionized their union could shut down the business until their bosses took their safety seriously. But, because they’re illegal immigrants an unethical employer can treat them as disposable – and, pretty much by definition, anybody who is hiring illegal immigrants is an unethical employer.
The people affected here are largely stone workers. Stone workers used to be extremely powerful. The Freemason fraternal organization started as stone workers who held the secrets of the profession, supervised stoneworker qualifications, controlled their interactions with clients, regulated their interactions with the state, etc. Now, because of the widespread acceptance of illegal immigration, not only are stoneworkers not powerful, they’re disposable.
You make a good point about how workers have been played against each other to the disadvantage of all. However, there is a lot of area between illegal immigrants and full citizens who are comfortable bringing their employers to court. Many legal immigrants spend years in situations where being fired or quitting would mean having to leave the country. Depending on what they’d be going back to or what family and life they have built here in the meantime, they may be less free to rock the boat even if they felt confident in the legal system. Even citizens would be unlikely to take a stand without the support of some larger group.
I have had countertops put in two different times. The first time the crew had a water saw and masks. The second time I was horrified to see the guys cutting the stuff raw without even a paper mask on.
There are a lot of workers in different industries that are at risk of silicosis and don’t know it. The mentality of “it’s just dust, don’t be afraid to get a little dirty” will end up killing people.
You’re absolutely right, all this old timer “Kids these days are so soft…” B. S. When in reality the young just don’t wanna die or be maimed at 30.
Take care of your bodies, kids, it’s the only one you get. Don’t let corporations run you into the ground and then throw you in the trash. We need to demand better working conditions from our bosses and our elected officials.
I’ve been to a place that does this. Everything was covered in water. It prevents any dust getting in the air. The slab and blades have water spraying over it. I don’t think a mask was even necessary. But without water I assume it would be awful.
