Occupational Hygienist Kate Cole highlights international best practice in preventing illness and disease and practical steps to improve work health and safety in tunnelling projects.
Silica is silicon dioxide, a naturally occurring and widely abundant mineral that forms the major component of most rocks and soils. Crystalline silica dust particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause illness and disease.
For each worker who loses their life from an injury sustained at work in Australia, more than eight will die from a work-related illness.
Compared with workers in the broader construction industry, tunnel construction workers have an increased risk of developing silicosis.
In this seminar, Kate highlights international best practice in illness and disease prevention from the UK, USA, Norway and Switzerland. Drawing from existing best practice frameworks, she discusses eight important elements including, leadership, engagement and collaboration, training and awareness, standards, health in design, program health risk management, targeted health risk management, and sustainability.
Who is this seminar for?
This seminar is useful to PCBUs, WHS consultants and workers in the construction industry, with a particular focus on tunnelling.
About the presenter
Kate Cole is a certified Occupational Health and Hygiene Manager at Sydney Metro.
She was a recipient of a Churchill Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust in 2016 and is a Member of the International Tunnelling Association Working Group 5: Health and Safety in Works.
Additional resources
- Hazardous chemicals web page
- Workplace exposure standards for chemicals
- Workplace exposure standards and how to use them seminar
- Crystalline silica health monitoring
- Controlling silica in the infrastructure sector, video featuring Daniel Beavon, SafeWork NSW
- Collaborating with industry to tackle silica dust exposure, video featuring Keith Bannerman, Australasian Tunnelling Society
- The role of the client in the WHS landscape, video featuring Stephen Jones, Sydney Metro
- Staying ahead of the game – Controlling silica exposure in tunnel construction, video featuring Christian D'Hondt, John Holland
- Shifting perceptions and outcomes in occupational health and wellbeing, video featuring Kurt Warren, Laing O'Rourke