Optimising respiratory health screening of silica exposed artificial stone benchtop industry workers

Since 2010, there have been case reports of silicosis affecting workers who fabricate and install artificial stone kitchen benchtops in several countries. This thesis examined the respiratory health of stone benchtop workers in Victoria, Australia. Of 544 workers assessed, 117 (21.5%) were diagnosed with silicosis, all were male with a median age of just 42 years. It was found that relying on lung function testing or chest x-rays would miss many cases compared to CT scans. The high risk to workers detailed in this thesis contributed to Australia's decision to ban crystalline silica containing artificial stone from July 2024.