"Re-Emergence" of Silicosis and Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis in Australia. (1st November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Penrose, Beris
• Is Part Of: Labour history. Volume 119(2020)
• Page Start: 65
• Page End: 92
• Publication Date: 2020-11-01
• Subjects: Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis -- Charles Badham -- Medicalisation of Silicosis -- New Technology -- Self-Regulation -- Silicosis -- Workers' Compensation; Labor -- Australia -- History -- Periodicals; Labor unions -- Australia -- History -- Periodicals; 331.0994
• DOI: 10.3828/jlh.2020.19
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0023-6942

Abstract

Abstract : Some reporters, politicians, and doctors have described current cases as a "re-emergence" of these diseases, based on the notion that they had been eliminated. However, silicosis persisted in centuries-old industries like sandblasting and stonemasonry and coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP) continued in coal mining. Until recently, their presence was obscured by a combination of factors such as misdiagnosis, especially if there was a history of smoking; the failure to follow up workers thought to have silicosis or CWP; the long latency period between dust exposure and disease onset that can conceal the link between the two; and the lack of data collection that may have revealed their presence. As the recent Queensland government inquiry into CWP noted, current cases are more accurately a reidentification.