Comment by gimmeThaBeet
2 years ago
I recall seeing stuff about this in California, but I think that was more about people polishing the big slabs, this seems more about masons installing them?
But really terrible stuff, I know that's who the article focuses on, but it's just intrinsically, like mostly guys in their late 20s and 30s. If they have families, the kids are gonna be young, and then their lungs are just shot.
I don't remember if there was a water conservation angle to it, but there was discussion of using water for some measure of dust suppression, and they just didn't have it.
So is this basically what we would call quartz countertops in the states? I can't say that I've heard the term engineered stone. Preaching to the choir but feels like this stuff should be phased out yesterday. The PPE is almost beside the point, though it feels lower h hyprocrite to me maybe because its closer to home. There's so many resources that inflict a toll e.g. metals coffee palm oil, but you don't think about them since the people are halfway around the world.
Installers and the folks back in the shops that cut the slabs for a particular job. Many are young, hardworking trades with limited English trying to give their young families a better life. Very sad. They didn’t know how bad it is, and I bet the contractor that owns the shop didn’t know until recently either.
Don't sensationalise it with "hard-working people with limited English". That's definitely not the people that were interviewed for media pieces here at least.
>They didn’t know how bad it is, and I bet the contractor that owns the shop didn’t know until recently either.
That's the issue. It wasn't well known or well talked about, and proper safety wasn't put in place.
Bloody hell wheat is both a drowning risk AND an explosive. Hell better ban that too!
Maybe not for the media piece here, in the best HN tradition, I didn't read it. I am talking from personal experience. I met the installers and visited the shop where the granite counter tops for my kitchen were cut. Hard working guys, not great English. I respect their hustle and attitude -- I didn't start with much of anything, either. It really does sadden me to think what has happened to many of them.
As for not knowing, well, we humans been cutting stone for a long time and know the dust isn't good for you.
> I recall seeing stuff about this in California
People love to talk shit about California (I don't mean OP, but generally, and increasingly), but that state gets right as much as it gets wrong. And at least it fucking does something. It's expected to pass strict regulations tomorrow on the type of stonecutting that Australia is banning. That adds up because Australia is a country that likes to ban things and America is not. That holds true even in California, which is far more pro-commerce than people seem to pretend.
But the bigger point is that outside of Australia and California, a small but tragic number of working people will continue to die a rough and premature death because most states, countries, counties, whatever jurisdiction, don't have the basic competency and clear-sightedness to pass laws that cause no one true harm but save literal human lives.
https://www.kqed.org/news/11969381/california-regulators-to-...
Wow. I live in CA, and am starting on a remodel where I fully intended on using this stuff, having no idea it was harmful. In fact, I just assumed it must be better than digging/mining/cutting 'real' granite slabs and that this stuff would be both cheaper AND more responsible.
Regulations do more than regulate/ban things, they raise awareness. Just reading about the Australia ban had me thinking "I'll have to see what else we like to use instead" before I even got to your comment about the California ban.