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Last edited 28 Jan 2022

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The impact of silicosis on the construction industry

In January 2022, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Respiratory Health (APPG) launched an inquiry into the impact of silicosis on the construction industry. This was a one year update of its 2020 report which looked at the disease burden of silicosis, the diagnosis, treatment and management of the disease and the impact on patients' lives.

Since the original report, a number of stakeholders have contacted the APPG with updates and advances on new technologies designed to further protect the workforce. With this new information they have decided to produce an update to the report and would like to further investigate advances into risk reduction strategies and evaluate the practicalities of industry-wide adoption.

CIOB are looking to gather member feedback to respond to this inquiry.

Submission questions include:

What mechanisms are currently in place to reduce exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in your industry?
What types of risk reduction strategies for RCS are most likely to attract industry support?
What measures are in place to assess the extent of exposure to RCS of workers in the construction industry?
How effective do you believe current measures are in assessing the extent of exposure to RCS in the construction industry?
How have risk reduction strategies for RCS changed in the last 12 months?
How could changes in current HSE regulations on RCS better protect workers?
What impact do the current WEF limits in the UK help or hinder workforce protection against the risks of RCS?
How can firms be incentivised to do more to reduce exposure to RCS?
How best can we increase levels of awareness amongst companies/employers and construction workers of the risks of respirable crystalline silica exposure?

This article originally appeared on the Consultation portion of the CIOB website. It was written by Daisie Rees-Evans, Policy Officer and published on 10 January 2022; revisions to the original post were made on 13 January 2022.

--CIOB