UK kitchen renovation worker’s death sees coroner call for ‘urgent’ action.

The death of a stonemason diagnosed with silicosis after cutting kitchen worktops has led a coroner to call for “urgent action” from the Government and workplace safety watchdog to protect workers.

Wessam al Jundi, 28, died in May 2024, five days after being admitted to hospital for a lung transplant following his diagnosis of a severe form of fatal lung diseases, according to a Prevention of Future Death (PFD) report seen by and.

He was exposed to toxic silica dust while working in a sawmill in London slabs of processed stone since 2016 and diagnosed five years later.

In a rare intervention, the coroner’s PFD report was written before an inquest was heard into his death.

It is believed to be the first confirmed death from silicosis in a stone worker in Britain, although another worker is understood to have died after being diagnosed with the disease.

Quartz stone countertops have become extremely popular in kitchen renovations, but have been blamed for global outbreaks of silicosis in workers who cut kitchen surfaces.

Mr al Jundi was among a growing number of young stone workers to contract silicosis in the UK, with a total of 18 cases now confirmed and the youngest patient aged just 24.

A report by doctors published in August by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) thoraxwhich urged the Government to consider banning the material, found that the average age of the first eight cases was 34 and that one person had died.

Echoing a trend in other countries, most are migrants who cite poor safety conditions having inhaled toxic silica dust – known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS) – in small workshops.

The chief coroner for west London, Lydia Brown, has written to the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) calling for an “action timetable” to tackle the dangers. cutting of processed stone.

Ms Brown wrote: “Wessam has worked with artificial stone products that contain a very high percentage of crystalline silica content.

“During the course of the investigation, my inquiries revealed issues of concern.

“In my view, there is a risk that further deaths will occur if action is not taken.

“In my opinion, urgent action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe that you and/or your organization have the power to take such action.”

The coroner said the response from the Government and the HSE must contain details of the action taken or proposed to be taken or an explanation as to why none is proposed.

The Government and the HSE have until December 23 to respond.

Dr Jo Feary, consultant in occupational lung disease who treats affected patients at the Royal Brompton Hospital, said: “This is a significant intervention by the Coroner and is an opportunity to urgently raise awareness of this deadly disease with employers, workers and the wider public . system.

“If we work together, we can prevent future illness and death from this devastating condition.”

In October, and interviewed Marek Marzec, 48, stonemason with only weeks to live after being diagnosed with terminal silicosis from cutting quartz slabs.

Earlier this year Malik Al-Khalil, 28, a Syrian refugee who contracted silicosis after five years of cutting quartz countertops in Londonsaid doctors told him he might die after he became seriously ill with a lung disease.

In July, Australia became the first country in the world to ban artificial stone after nearly 600 stonemasons were diagnosed with silicosis since 2015.

Mr al Jundi was first exposed to silica dust in 2016. He was diagnosed in 2021 but was not suitable for a lung transplant because he felt too unwell.

His immediate cause of death at Harefield Hospital in west London was given as respiratory failure and the main cause of death was silicosis.

The corner said evidence from photographs and a statement Mr al Jundi made before his death suggested he was working in “completely unsafe conditions to avoid exposure to dust”.

The “single” intervention of the medical examiner

Kevin Bampton, chief executive of workplace safety charity the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), said only a small proportion of the 400-600 annual reports on preventing future deaths would deal with illnesses at workplace, such as silicosis.

The senior coroner’s decision to produce a PFD ahead of an inquest suggested he had “deep concern” about the health risk to stone workers exposed to silica dust.

“This is a relatively unique situation, if not completely unique,” he said i.

“It is not beyond the realms of possibility that the coroner will consider that urgent action is needed and that a delay of 18 months to two years could see a number of people fall victim to this horrible and irreversible disease.

“Quite often, they (PFDs) signal the opportunity to fix problems that cause risk or death. And quite often, when agencies engage with them, they will change systems, processes, or highlight risks.

“And if someone had listened earlier it would have saved public money and saved lives.

“UK lawmakers have a track record of really sounding the alarm on things that we later realize are significant public health problems.

“The major problem behind this surplus of cases is that people weren’t looking. We have to have everyone lined up for prevention.”

His silicosis was likely caused by exposure to silica dust while cutting processed stone at the now-defunct company he worked for, the coroner found.

In 2016, the HSE published guidance on health surveillance for workers exposed to RCS, which includes a chest x-ray after 15 years of exposure.

But the coroner said Mr al Jundi’s death showed current health surveillance monitoring was “unlikely to achieve a satisfactory outcome” because the onset of the incurable disease is before 15 years.

“The past two decades have seen a rapid increase in the use of artificial stone, and this death demonstrates the onset of a severely and progressively accelerated form of silicosis,” the coroner said.

“Many of the companies specializing in the finishing process of working with this product have a small number of employees.

“There appears to be an absence of safe working conditions with no adequate water suppression systems for the dust created, in adequate personal respiratory protective equipment and absent or inadequate ventilation systems.

“So this continues to put the workforce at risk of death from untreatable lung compromise.”

The and the newspaper was among those to whom the medical examiner sent the report.

Apart from the ban, workplace safety improvements previously suggested by experts include halving the UK workplace exposure limit for silica dust and mandatory HSE participation for businesses using artificial stone.

There have also been calls for the HSE to receive more funding and a legal requirement for employers to report cases of silicosis.

and reported last month that the HSE had drawn up new guidelines to protect workers and highlight the dangers of practices such as dry cutting without water-to-dust suppression tools.

In July, Australia became the first country in the world to ban processed stone after hundreds of stonemasons were diagnosed with silicosis, according to a report by policy body Safe Work Australia.

Nearly 200 cases have occurred in California since 2019, most of them involving Latino immigrants, of whom 13 have died. There are also outbreaks in other countries, including Spain and Israel.

DHSC, MCHLG and HSE declined to comment at this time.

• Anyone working with artificial stone who is concerned about their health is urged to contact Dr Johanna Feary and her team at the Royal Brompton Hospital directly using the details on website