Marking the start of a new way to monitor respiratory health in the workplace, the development of the National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry is supported by The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ). This follows seven years of advocation to the Federal Government where TSANZ members first identified silicosis in engineered stone workers. With the purpose to support early detection and develop necessary prevention strategies in the workplace, respiratory and occupational physicians must begin populating the registry with patients diagnosed with silicosis, and other occupational conditions if elected. This will ultimately help to better understand emerging respiratory diseases within the workplace and holistically assess the success of prevention and intervention strategies.
Simultaneously, the British Medical Journal published Dr Ryan Hoy and colleagues’ paper on the Prevalence and risk factors for silicosis among a large cohort of stone benchtop industry workers. The research importantly highlights why a registry would make a difference to an industry where many workers are exposed to hazardous environments. Conclusions finding 28% and 21% of a 400+ cohort had either silicosis or advanced silicosis respectively. Trends within the industry (past or present employees) for baseline testing found 40% of workers with silicosis had ‘normal’ chest X-Rays and 70% had normal lung function. Proving the need for better prevention, detection and care services.
Moving forward, the new registry will allow for better monitoring and sustained access to testing for those with occupational exposure to silica and other particulates that cause respiratory conditions. TSANZ will continue their work towards improving measures for the prevention and early-detection of occupational related disease, protection and monitoring of silica dust-exposed workers in both Australia and New Zealand. However, as Dr Hoy stated, “elimination of the hazard is by far the most effective way of preventing an occupational disease,” with the TSANZ sharing a like-minded goal and will therefore, continue to advocate for a blanket ban on engineered stone.
Related papers:
- doi: 10.1136/oemed-2023-108892
Links to related sites: (The Registry is not up and running yet so there is no link to the specific site – 28/06/23)
- https://www.ahaconsulting.com.au/projects/national-occupational-respiratory-disease-registry/
- https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-dust-nat-registry.htm
