Calls for Australia to ban imported stone benchtops

Man survives timber house collapse. 

A man has survived a house falling on top of him as the bobcat he was driving was caught underneath it.

The owner/builder and driver of the bobcat was lucky to escape uninjured as the timber home fell on the machine. It appears he had hired a pier jacking system to raise the home, and as he has removed some stumps, one of the piers was upset, causing the house to slide and leaving the house held up by the bobcat, one of the jacking system piers and one of the steel beams under the building.

A house lifting specialist company has been called in to recover the situation.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission are investigating the incident.

The original article can be found on the Townsville Bulletin website.

Calls for Australia to ban imported stone benchtops. 

In its final report, released on Monday a federal task force has recommended that unless significant industry changes were made to protect workers from silica dust exposure, Australia should get ready to ban some or all imports of engineered stone used in kitchens and bathrooms.

Silicosis, caused by the inhalation of crystalline silica released when engineered stone is cut, ground or polished, was prevalent in Australia between the 1940s and 1960s. The disease has re-emerged with the increasing popularity of engineered stone benchtops.

According to data from Queensland and Victoria, nearly one in four people who have worked with engineered stone suffer from silicosis or other diseases related to silica dust.

The task force says current health and safety regulations aren't protecting workers from dust exposure linked to the deadly lung disease silicosis and businesses working with the material were on notice to improve.

It recommended regular monitoring and recording of silica dust levels, employee health checks and screening of current and former workers as well as the development of national guidelines to identify those at risk from exposure.

Read the full article on the MSN website.