A Safe Work Australia report found engineered stone poses an ‘unacceptable risk to workers’ and should be banned.
The ACT government says its prepared to introduce its own ban if a national agreement isn’t reached.
The CFMEU is calling on retailers like Bunnings and IKEA to stop selling engineered stone products.
It’s not really reasonable to expect workers to be able to make this decision for themselves every time, unfortunately. If there aren’t laws mandating provision of PPE by the employer and use by employees, people will skip it because “oh I usually wear it” or “I’ll just man my way through it” or whatever. Employers may encourage this to save time or money. The only way to ensure everyone gets adequate protection is to mandate it.