Why do they need to ban them? Can't they just wear maks or PPE or something if they're worried about silicosis?
Why do they need to ban them? Can't they just wear maks or PPE or something if they're worried about silicosis?
Why do they need to ban them? Can't they just wear maks or PPE or something if they're worried about silicosis?
I guess huffing in huge quantities of dust wouldn't be Manly and Australian or something.
Usually such manual laborers work in conditions where wearing PPE is very uncomfortable, so on the daily they'd rather breathe in the dust than wear the PPE. Potential solution would be to increase prices of the benchtops and improve working conditions with the extra money, but of course beyond a certain point foreign imports would be cheaper and win out.
the solution is not wearing uncomfortable PPE the solution is air flow solutions and integrated dust mitigation systems on the tools. These are expensive. A 60$ respirator is cheap and easy and burdensome on the employee. A $3000 dust mitigation wet saw vacuum is burdensome on the employer and that's a problem
>Usually such manual laborers work in conditions where wearing PPE is very uncomfortable,
Nonsense. I've been in construction for 20 years and guys don't wear PPE because "the dust (fumes, whatever) doesn't bother me". I wear mine whenever it's warranted, and while I'd rather not, it's not "very uncomfortable" even if it's all day long.
It's just macho shitheads being macho shitheads. But, we can't have nice things so we will no longer have nice countertops because macho shitheads gotta macho shithead.
Most granite countertops are 99% completed, cut, polished…including edging, at the factory and they use a water process and no dust.
Same with glass and cerium oxide.
Article is mostly bullshit.
>Article is mostly bullshit.
Typical union whinging and whining.
They have to do something for their exorbitant union fees.
Don't tradies have to cut them down onsite though to adjust to specific kitchen sizes?
Typically no; they make very detailed templates with plenty of room for fitting adjustments and then make the parts in shop and just install them in the field.
Where something must be done on site they either use water to lube and suppress dust or for minor things use a vacuum collector equipped tool or a guy holding a vacuum hose right next to the cutting operation.
>or a guy holding a vacuum hose right next to the cutting operation.
sure
> use water for lube
True but using water’s main purpose is to keep the cutting surfaces cool, and clog free.
Dust control is just a bonus.
Another reason this article is bullshit.
Even those cheap-ass tile saws made of punched sheet metal use water.
Hasn’t anyone used a whetstone to sharpen a knife before, or seen it done, perhaps?
>Can't they just wear maks or PPE
The problem is getting the workers to fricking wear their PPE. I can't tell you how many welders I've seen going at it with no goggles, apparently being able to see isn't that important to them.
This.
>The problem is getting the workers to fricking wear their PPE
Just tell them they will get fired the first time they are caught not wearing it. That will fix the problem
Works well in unionized trades.
union workers barely do any work at all might as well just fire them all
replace them with safe and effective mexicans
lmao, pretty much this.
My favorite was a worker who was going to run an abrasive chop saw for several hours who didn't want ear muffs or ear plugs because "My ears are tough!"
Apparently, cumulative hearing damage makes your ears so "tough" that loud things don't bother you anymore
I hate that we now live in a world where morons with no self preservation force all of us to go without and struggle because they cant contain their reckless abandon even for a moment. When will the population of stupid and fragile burden us to collapse? Surely we can't support them forever.
The dumb part is the morons aren't the ones who create these rules, it's the decently intelligent bleeding-hearts deadset on protecting the morons from the consequences of their actions, thereby incentivising them to continue acting like morons.
>decently
middling, convinced that they're smart because they're not the morons
>bleeding-hearts deadset on protecting the morons from the consequences of their actions
this is really it. if this person didn't exist then low IQ male toughness rituals wouldn't be a real issue.
No, you will no longer have nice countertops because banning homosexuals gonna ban things.
The problem isn't with those who misuse.
whats the frickin angle here? is this the Quartz™ industry trying to put real stone out of business?
>wear maks or PPE or something
Oy vey! And deprive us of our settlement cuts?! How antisemitic! Taking food from my childrens' mouths!
Commonsense countertop control now! Yes! We are coming for your countertops and that is a good thing!
Oh dear
The solution is to wet everything. I see construction workers out cutting stones with these abrasive chopsaws, they make dust clouds that engulf the street, they make 100 decibel noise with no hearing protection for themselves and not give a frick
Lol
Banning shit is also as Australian as vegemite
Bla bla, that's just china lobbyists at work. Let's stop manufacturing this trendy product, so China can gobble up that market share. Chinese don't care about asbestos if it sells. That's the dust of success they're breathing.
Australian here:
It isn't about safety. It never is with these things in Australia.
It's Australian culture to ban things and THEN try to justify the ban with some BS. Australia is just a culture that obsessively prohibits things.
to the average journalist, who likely grew up mid to upper middle class, was convinced they had to go to college as anything less was beneath them, and that traditions and familial responsibilities prevent them from the ultimate goal of having fun, it's only natural they developed no sense of personal responsibility and no real world experience. To them, the government must do something, as they see no other way. There's likely no inconvenience to them for all these new rules and regulations they clamor for anyway, they'll never do anything themselves, and they'll never have the money to really do anything anyway. Bug people through and through.
I'm guessing this is more of a problem on new construction since reno customers aren't going to want you kicking up dust clouds in their kitchen?
No, it’s always been done with water, primarily in the factory or shop. In fact, more so than ever since field installers are now millennials and, worse, zoomers and can’t do shit. You think I’m going to let them frick around with an installed granite slab on-site? Never.
The article is a delusionary fantasy.
The real reason is asbestos is still a big issue in Australia. James Hardie is still paying damages and fighting new cases so they don't have to pay more. Quite frankly, the James Hardie asbestos story is a story most journalists would kill to break. It's award winning stuff, and would cement the career of any journalist that was involved. So they're going hard at it, not out of concern for the wealth fare of young tradies but for their own self interest.
This is either going to go away completely or ramp up soon due to recent changes to WorkSafe's rules. Before, wearing your PPE correctly was the responsibility of the individual. Sure, you could be sent home if you rocked up to work not wearing your longs or steel caps, but stuff like eye and ear pro were often overlooked. A token "hey wear that shit" was given, but no one was stopping you from saw cutting without it. You signed the SWMS saying you would wear it so if anything happened and you weren't wearing the proper PPE, no compo for you. Now, this responsibility has been shifted to the employer. Meaning even if you weren't wearing the proper PPE, the employer is still on the hook for any injury on site even if you were blatantly disregarding instructions. Companies now have a strong financial reason to crack down on trades not doing the right thing, and no union is going to back the guy who refuses to do his job safely as they're the the driving force for more safety controls.
Here’s a pic of austrailia on a typical day. That’s an actual dust storm in picrel.
I suggest, for everyone’s safety they evacuate Australia on a permanent basis, and colonize either the Sinai peninsula or madagascar. It’s not like they’re using them effectively.
if your employee is told to wear clear glasses
is provided with em
and still doesn't wear em
how can that be the employers fault
Because of jurors that hate big companies. Like the Roundup bullshit where a farmer who basically ignored every basic safety rule got $332m in punitive damages even though the jury didn't find that his cancer was caused by Roundup.
>roundup is le safe and effective, i could even drink a glass of it!
>surprised when people relax around it and get cancer and sue you for $300M
I have been working in liquid penetrant and magnetic inspection on downhole oilfield tools as a labourer for 3 months now. Everyday I use a die grinder to remove rust, oil, grease, mud and thread lock off of parts. If there is lots of thread lock, I heat the part and burn some of it off with a torch before using the grinder. I wear a respirator everyday (not a single other person does at my company) whenever I am using the grinder or heating.
Am I going to get lung cancer? I am planning to quit soon when I get a new temporary job, as inspection just isn’t for me anyways even though I did schooling for it. I realize nobody has any exact answers, I’m just talking and any opinions are of interest. This type of work just scares me and it is weird how nobody else cares much.
wash your hands before you smoke.
not a joke.
I started using old bounce house fans and carpet dryers for forced air when working in the heat and love them for blowing away smoke when torch cutting. Cordless fans are also a thing but I've not needed one yet.
The respirator is a wise move. Read the MSDS for the stuff you use. I'd also wear nitrile gloves (worth it to avoid hand washing anyway) to keep most of it off my skin.
Eh
>the workers cutting the slabs won't protect themselves so now we'll just make their job illegal
????????
I see, the chinks want the countertop market
Geez
>Why do they need to ban them? Can't they just wear maks or PPE or something if they're worried about silicosis?
Literally they can just keep water running over it as they work it. Banning anything with a risk of silicosis is moronic and entirely unfeasible.