As you may have heard in recent media reports, there is currently a call to the Australian Government to ban the use of engineered stone products. Media have reported rising rates of silicosis in workers who have acknowledge the issue, and debate has begun, unfortunately many workers have already been diagnosed with the deadly dust disease.
Many home owners purchase engineered stone as a more affordable alternative to marble or natural stone. Engineered stone is commonly used in kitchen and bathroom benchtops. The stone contains high levels of silica crystals which, when the stone is cut, produces dust which contains those crystals. If a worker is not provided with the appropriate protective equipment, or the employer has not adopted safe practices, the worker may inevitably be exposed to the silica crystals.
What are dust diseases?
Dust diseases are chronic lung conditions, such as silicosis, asbestosis and mesothelioma. These conditions are caused from inhaling silica crystals or other harmful dust particles. Other dust diseases which have received wide spread attention over recent decades include mesothelioma, asbestosis, and asbestos induced carcinoma.
What can you do if you have been diagnosed with a dust disease?
If you have been diagnosed with one of the diseases above, or others from a specified list, caused by exposure as a worker in NSW, you may be able to claim compensation from iCare’s Dust Diseases Care and from the Dust Diseases Tribunal.
iCare Dust Diseases Care – criteria for claiming compensation
iCare Dust Diseases Care is a statutory based scheme which provides workers or, in cases where the worker is deceased, their dependants, financial support (including funeral benefits). The worker, under this scheme, is also entitled to claim medical, hospital and other treatment if they have been diagnosed with one of the listed diseases.
This scheme does not require the worker, or their dependants to prove that the diagnosis was caused as a result of the employers’ negligence. If it can be shown that the exposure to the dust has been caused during the course of employment and that the worker is totally or partially incapacitated from work as a result of the diagnosis and exposure, then the worker may be able to make a claim through the statutory based scheme.
Claims at the NSW Dust Diseases Tribunal
The Tribunal is responsible for hearing civil claims for compensation arising out of contracting a dust disease, either during their employment or otherwise, as a result of someone else’s negligence.
The criteria required to be established
In order to make a claim at the NSW Dust Diseases Tribunal, the worker or their estate must satisfy the following criteria:
- The dust disease must be covered by the Dust Diseases Tribunal Act.
- The condition was caused by the negligence of another person or entity.
- As a result of that negligence, the worker (or estate) have suffered a loss.
What can be claimed?
If the above criteria is established, the following compensation may be available:
i. Pain and Suffering (also known as Non-Economic Loss) including loss of expectation of life and loss of amenities of life.
ii. Past and future loss of earnings, including wage and superannuation loss to retirement age.
iii. Past and future treatment expenses. Medical and other expenses such as, medication, specialists consultations, hospital admissions and rehabilitation.
iv. Past and future domestic assistance – including, cleaning and gardening services whether provided by a family member or friend on a gratuitous basis, or, a company on a commercial basis.
If the worker is deceased as a result of the condition, then the estate can claim the following:
i. Pain and Suffering (only in circumstances where the worker was alive, at the time of making a claim at the NSW Dust Diseases Tribunal).
ii. Funeral expenses.
iii. Treatment expenses.
iv. Domestic assistance up to the worker’s date of death.
v. Wage loss up to the worker’s date of death.
Time limitations
As it can take approximately 8 to 10 years for a worker to become aware that they have been diagnosed with a dust disease, proceedings before the Dust Diseases Tribunal can be made at any time.
If you are a worker in NSW and have been diagnosed with a dust disease or related condition, please contact us to further discuss your entitlements under the Dust Disease scheme. Please click here for a link to more Dust Diseases information on our website.
The contents of this publication are for reference purposes only. This publication does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as legal advice, Specific legal advice should always be sought separately before taking any action based on this publication.
