COEH releases ‘Preventing Silicosis: Meeting Report and Recommendations’
In May 2024, UCLA COEH hosted Preventing Silicosis, a conference to bring together affected workers, employers and manufacturers with researchers, unions, community-based organizations and other stakeholders to develop practical and feasible solutions to prevent silicosis caused by artificial stone.
The Preventing Silicosis: Meeting Report and Recommendations on the event page summarizes the conference and identifies a series of strategies that were discussed to respond to this epidemic. We synthesized the information to develop a few priority recommendations intended to respond to the acute crisis, and establish a pathway for long-term prevention and assistance to employers and workers, including workers and their families affected by silicosis. These are:
- Increase consultative and enforcement capacity within Cal/OSHA.
- Implement a product ban or restrictions on product use.
- Make silicosis an automatically compensable work-related disease and reportable disease.
- Establish a task force to provide and coordinate additional strategies to support workers and employers.
Visit the event page for presentation materials and the Silicosis Network Directory.