National Dust Disease Taskforce Submission (2021)

National Dust Disease Taskforce Submission, Vision, Strategies, and Priorities Areas for Action

The Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists Inc (AIOH) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the deliberations of the National Dust Diseases Taskforce. The AIOH commends the Taskforce for its efforts to date and looks forward to a successful outcome.

The AIOH believes that that preventing exposure to respirable crystalline silica is the most important action that must be taken ensure that there are no further cases of silicosis. We recommend that this intent should form part of the Vision statement.

However, the AIOH also recognizes that there will be significant problems of governance to manage, to successfully drive a collective focus on the critical changes required. For this reason, it is recommended that the Commonwealth Department of Health should be the lead agency and that a multi-disciplinary unit should be created within the Environmental Health and Health Protection Policy Branch. This would enhance the policy and regulatory expertise across and within departmental structures.

In addition, the AIOH believes that there is a need for an independent Institute of Occupational Health. A proposed model for such a body is the UK Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM). In responding to the questions, the AIOH has made a number of constructive suggestions.