Death of UK kitchen revamp worker sees coroner call for ‘urgent’ action
The death of a stonemason diagnosed with silicosis after cutting kitchen worktops has seen a coroner demand “urgent action” from the Government and the workplace safety watchdog in order 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 with a severe form of the deadly lung disease, according to a Prevention of Future Death (PFD) report seen by i.
He was exposed to toxic silica dust working in a London workshop cutting engineered stone slabs since 2016 and diagnosed five years later.
In a rare intervention, the coroner’s PFD report has been written before an inquest into his death has been heard.
It is believed to be the first confirmed death from silicosis in an engineered stone worker in the UK, although one other worker is understood to have died after being diagnosed with the disease.
Quartz engineered stone slabs have become hugely popular in kitchen revamps, but have been blamed for global silicosis outbreaks in workers cutting kitchen surfaces.
Mr al Jundi was among a growing number of young engineered stone workers who have contracted silicosis in the UK, with a total of 18 cases now confirmed and the youngest patient aged just 24.
A doctors’ report published in August by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Thorax, which urged the Government to consider banning the material, found 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 citing poor safety conditions who have inhaled toxic silica dust – known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS) – in small workshops.
The Senior Coroner for west London, Lydia Brown, has written to the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) demanding a “timetable for action” to tackle the dangers of cutting engineered stone.
Ms Brown wrote: “Wessam had been working with artificial stone products which contain a very high percentage of crystalline silica content.
“During the course of the investigation my inquiries revealed matters giving rise to concern.
“In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.
“In my opinion urgent action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you and/or your organisation have the power to take such action.”
The coroner said the Government and HSE’s response must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken or an explanation as to why none is proposed.
The Government and the HSE must respond by 23 December.
Dr Jo Feary, a consultant in occupational lung disease treating affected patients at the Royal Brompton Hospital, said: “This is a significant intervention from the Coroner and is an opportunity to urgently raise awareness of this deadly disease with employers, workers and the wider health system.
“If we work together we can prevent future illness and death from this devastating condition.”
In October, i interviewed Marek Marzec, 48, a stonemason with just 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 cutting quartz worktops in London, said doctors have told him he could die after falling seriously ill with the lung disease.
In July, Australia became the first country in the world to ban engineered stone after almost 600 stonemasons were diagnosed with silicosis since 2015.
Mr al Jundi was first exposed to the silica dust in 2016. He was diagnosed in 2021, but wasn’t suitable for a lung transplant as he was too unwell.
His immediate cause of death at Harefield Hospital in west London was given as respiratory failure and the underlying cause of death was silicosis.
The corner said evidence from photographs and a statement made by Mr al Jundi before his death suggest he was working in “completely unsafe conditions to avoid dust exposure”.
Coroner’s ‘unique’ intervention
Kevin Bampton, chief executive of the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) workplace safety charity, said only a tiny fraction of the 400-600 Prevention of Future Death reports a year would deal with workplace diseases like silicosis.
The senior coroner’s decision to produce a PFD before an inquest suggested she had a “deep concern” about the health risk to engineered stone workers exposed to silica dust.
“This is a relatively unique, if not entirely unique, situation,” he told i.
“It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the coroner feels that urgent action is required and that an 18 months to two years delay could see a number of people falling foul of this horrible, irreversible illness.
“Quite often, they [PFDs] signal the opportunity for fixes of problems that are causing risk or death. And quite often, when agencies do engage with them they will change systems, processes or it’ll highlight risks.
“And if someone had listened earlier they would have saved the public money, and also saved lives.
“Coroners in the UK have a track record of really sounding the alarm for things that later down the line we realise are significant public health issues.
“The major issue behind this glut of cases is because people weren’t looking. We need to have everyone aligned for prevention.”
His silicosis was probably caused by exposure to silica dust while cutting engineered stone at the company he worked for, which has now stopped trading, the coroner found.
In 2016, the HSE published guidance on health surveillance for RCS-exposed workers 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 is “unlikely to achieve a satisfactory outcome” as the onset of untreatable disease predates 15 years.
“The last two decades have seen rapid growth in the use of artificial stone and this death demonstrates the emergence of a severe progressive accelerated form of silicosis,” the coroner said.
“Many of the companies specialising 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 respiratory personal protection equipment and absent or inadequate ventilatory systems.
“This is therefore continuing to put the workforce at risk of death due to untreatable lung compromise.”
The i newspaper was among those the coroner sent the report to.
Apart from a ban, workplace safety improvements that have been suggested by experts previously include halving the UK’s workplace exposure limit to silica dust and mandatory attendance of the HSE to businesses using engineered stone.
There have also been calls for the HSE to receive greater funding and a legal requirement for employers to report cases of silicosis.
i reported last month that the HSE has drafted new guidelines to protect workers and highlight the dangers of practices such as dry-cutting without water suppression tools to dust.
In July, Australia became the first country in the world to ban engineered stone after hundreds of stonemasons were diagnosed with silicosis, according to a report by policy body Safe Work Australia.
Almost 200 cases have occurred in California since 2019, the majority being Latino migrants, of whom 13 died. There are also outbreaks in other countries, including Spain and Israel.
The DHSC, the MCHLG and the 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 details on their website
