Politicians will have blood on their hands if they fail to immediately ban dangerous engineered stone, construction workers have warned.
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Unions have been ramping up pressure on governments to outlaw silica-based stone ahead of a meeting of state and federal ministers on Friday.
They cite the threat of silicosis, an incurable, debilitating and potentially fatal disease similar to that caused by inhaling asbestos dust.
More than 1000 workers marched through the Sydney city centre on Thursday, making for the largest rally at NSW parliament since the Minns government was elected in March.
CFMEU Queensland secretary Michael Ravbar promised a fight on the matter given "these gooses behind us" in parliament were yet to do "the right thing".
Victorian counterpart John Setka said politicians would have "blood on their hands" if they failed to act.
"They ought to remember the ALP was born out of the trade union movement, not the other way around," he told the rally.
Engineered stone is typically used to make kitchen and bathroom benches, with more than 600,000 workers exposed to it across sectors such as mining, building and construction, tunnelling and manufacturing.
The "rotten" product had only been in the country for little over a decade and there was no reason it needed to remain, union state secretary Darren Greenfield told reporters.
"We have members dying now, at the age of 32, 38, leaving behind a wife and kids ... and it's a horrible death."
In lieu of legislative action, the ACTU this week threatened to enforce its own ban that would halt the stone being taken to or used on Australian building sites.
Federal Labor has said it is working with unions to work out the best approach to engineered stone as Safe Work Australia reviews what products might need to be banned and how the policy would be enforced.
The NSW government told the work safety authority that products with a crystalline silica concentration of above 40 per cent should be banned, but others have called for an all-out ban on engineered stone.
Premier Chris Minns said he wanted to wait on the recommendations from Safe Work, which were expected to be released on Friday, before making a decision.
"It's always better to do it via a national agreement primarily because that engineered stone is generally imported into the country," he said.
"I do appreciate that workers in particular are saying the clock is ticking."
NSW Greens health spokeswoman Abigail Boyd said there was no safe level of silica exposure and state costings showing it would not cost a dollar to introduce a ban.
"Victoria has regulated engineered stone to silica concentrations below 40 per cent and still workers are being exposed to dangerous levels of silica dust and contracting silicosis," she said.
Australian Associated Press
