I agree. We should try to educate ourselves about how the companies we hire treat their employees. In many years of building and remodeling, I have found that the business with the cheapest quote usually employs the most ill-treated staff. I always ask contractors who they will be sending into my home, and how long each person has been with them. That tells me a lot. But I have never thought to ask vendors. Good reminder.

I am a fabricator. In a properly managed shop this is not an issue. OSHA recently cut the allowable limit of airborne silica in half and even the lower level is relatively easily attained by doing all the processing with water and some easy to implement housekeeping practices. I tested my shop this spring and the level was only about 1/6 of the allowable limit and that was in a closed up building in winter. It has been known since the time of the original pneumatic rock drills that silica dust can be deadly.

When we visited the fabricator who was going to do the granite vanity tops for our bathrooms, I was shocked and dismayed to see the guys doing the fabricating were not wearing masks. I was lugging around an oxygen tank at the time. Although I was wearing a mask, I didn’t dare step into the large garage-ish warehouse. I stood outside.

Even workers sanding wood, should be wearing masks. Many people, especially younger ones, don’t realize how quickly lungs can be damaged.

Oldryer and Darbuka's stories, taken together, outline the problem in an effective way. As Oldryder says, this is a long-known problem with a long-known solution. There's no reason good shops and smart bosses aren't doing this.

But as Darkbuka - and the article - point out, there are plenty of cases where the proper care is not being taken, and it's killing workers. One good outcome here is that consumers and KDs and everyone can be more alert about the problem, and try to work with people that are not subjecting their employees to dangerous conditions.

And major props to Oldryder and Dave Scott (in the NPR interview) who are doing it right. We need more of that! These guys are leaders in the industry, and this is one of many reasons why.

Tile can be bad for workers too. There’s plenty of silicosis in the tile industry. There’s plenty in many industries. Not just engineered stone. There’s plenty of bad bosses, and low paid workers without a clue too. Think of that the next time you see a tiler using a wet saw without ear protection or a mask. He’ll probably go,“huh” if you ask him to use PPE, because he’s already lost part of his hearing. But he doesn’t know what that nagging cough is either.

An article posted on this again just yesterday.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/11/21/777268528/it-s-going-to-get-worse-how-u-s-countertop-workers-started-getting-sick