Response to interpellation 2023/24:418 on the government's work against silicosis
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the government's work against silicosis, a disease caused by exposure to quartz dust in workplaces. L emphasizes that Sweden sees no increase in the disease and that unilateral bans on stone composite countertops cannot be introduced due to EU regulations 1. L argues that there are existing guidelines and guides that need to increase their visibility 2. S argues that the risks are high for hired labor and that updated guidance and targeted controls are needed 3 4. S asks whether the government takes initiatives to investigate if the problem needs to be taken more seriously 3 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! My voice is not at its best today, but I will try to push my way through this debate.
Isak From has asked me if I and the government are considering new measures to ensure that no one working in Sweden is affected by the disease silicosis, also called stone dust lung.
I would like to thank Isak From for raising an important issue regarding the working environment for debate here in the chamber today. According to the Swedish Work Environment Authority's statistics, approximately 1,300 people are estimated to die in Sweden every year as a result of having been exposed to chemical substances in the workplace at some point during their working life.
In the government's work environment strategy for 2021-2025, A good work environment for the future, a zero vision is stated both against workplace accidents leading to death and against work-related mortality.
The Swedish Work Environment Authority has, according to its instructions, the specific task of supervising that the work environment and working time legislation are followed. As part of the action plan for the work environment strategy, the Swedish Work Environment Authority plans, among other things, a project against work-related mortality resulting from chemical exposure. The project includes exposure to quartz, which can lead to silicosis.
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! I regret Minister Paulina Brandberg's voice problems and hope that her voice holds.
Sweden and Swedish workers, especially construction and mining workers, were severely affected by silicosis, stone dust lung, during the mid-1950s. A great effort from the workers' organizations, the unions, and also from the employers' side, research and politics, meant that silicosis was practically eradicated.
It is based on the fact that dust can occur in workplaces, but that relevant protective equipment is used and new methods are employed for cutting stone slabs, blasting rock, and performing various types of concrete work. This has clearly improved.
We can observe that 2023 was a particularly dark year with 62 deaths in directly work-related accidents and many hundreds of work-related injuries - exactly how many we do not know. We can also observe that it is particularly young people, hired labor, and self-employed individuals in the forestry and agricultural sectors who are vulnerable.
When it comes to the construction sector, we see now, not least in light of the tragic elevator accident outside Stockholm, that hiring out, in many respects, poses a significantly increased risk. That there is relevant and updated occupational health and safety legislation and guidance, and that employers take this issue seriously also for their hired-out personnel, is the foundation.
The starting point for my interpellation is that Byggnads has demanded that Arbetsmiljöverket both update the guidance and look into the type of countertops that are now being banned in Australia as they are deemed too dangerous. It concerns quartz composite slabs that can be considered exclusive and are often used when renovating one's kitchen. They contain these particles. The slabs are harmless once they are mounted, but when one cuts a slab, dust can arise which in the long run can give rise to silicosis.
These works and processes are also ongoing in Sweden, and my question is: Does the Minister intend to take any initiative? Is the guidance that exists today seen as sufficient?
There are also opportunities for the government to take a collective grip and task one of the research institutions that research this, for example the work science at LTU in Luleå or work and environmental medicine at the University Hospital in Umeå, to specifically investigate whether this is an issue that we need to take more seriously.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! In recent months, we have had a lot of focus in the debate on those who die at work. Just as the member said, 2023 was an incredibly dark year. However, it is important that we in the debate do not forget the large number who die an untimely death because of work. For example, exposure to chemical substances can cause one to meet an untimely death.
When it comes to stone dust lung, silicosis, it is exactly as the member said: In the 50s we had a large increase of this, and a large part of the deaths that occur today because of work are due to the fact that, looking back in time, we have not taken the occupational environment problems seriously enough. That can truly be regretted, when we now see that people are becoming ill and dying because we until now have not taken these issues seriously. What we can do is, of course, to ensure that we constantly move the positions forward and become better.
Sweden has not yet experienced the rapid increase in silicosis that Australia reports. Currently, the Work Environment Authority estimates that approximately 125 people die each year as a result of exposure to quartz dust. However, a total of only 18 new reports of occupational diseases due to quartz have been submitted to Försäkringskassan between 2019 and 2023, and the number of people falling ill is relatively constant, just over 3 people per year.
The Swedish Work Environment Authority, both on its own and with the help of occupational and environmental medicine clinics, monitors the occurrence of silicosis in Sweden to see how we can prevent future cases. According to the National Board of Health and Welfare's statistics on causes of death 1997-2022, no trend toward an increase in the number of deaths from silicosis in Sweden is visible. The Swedish Work Environment Authority has not received any reports according to the requirements in the regulations on medical examinations regarding silicosis for several years, and the authority's doctors have not perceived any signals from the occupational and environmental medicine clinics regarding an increase in silicosis in Sweden.
That we do not see any increase is of course good. We must ensure that we continue to monitor this very closely.
When it comes to the issue of stone composite countertops, Sweden must comply with the common product legislation within the EU. We can therefore not unilaterally decide on a ban on a specific product type. In that case, a clear exemption for Sweden from the EU would be required, which in turn would need to be justified with, for example, an increasing incidence of disease, which as we said, we do not see.
With that said, this is an issue we are following closely. Precisely because we see the large number of deaths historically and that even today, there are still too many who die from this, we must follow it closely to ensure that it does not turn in the wrong direction.
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! I do not believe in a ban either. There are many work-related tools that one can injure oneself on. The chainsaw, for example, can be extremely life-threatening if used incorrectly. A common jack that you use to lift the car can actually crush you quite seriously. It is the guidance for and the handling of tools and materials that must be done correctly. Since these worktops, which are used and sold in Sweden on a fairly large scale, are cut and installed in Swedish homes, it is that process that must function.
Now the right-wing government has decided on a budget with an increased tax deduction that, among other things, goes towards countertops. We would have wanted an increased tax deduction that focused on energy improvement measures, but now the government has chosen this path. These countertops are sold on a large scale and are partially installed in Swedish homes by migrant workers who, in a number of years, may perhaps come to develop silicosis. If that then depends on a job they have done in Sweden or somewhere else will be extremely difficult to follow up. Therefore, it is very important that the employers in the Swedish labor market, the unions, and the responsible authorities have the correct updated guidance. Regardless of which country you come from when you work in Sweden, you should not get sick from the job.
The LO union Byggnads wants to see an updated guidance and targeted controls. Is it something that Minister Paulina Brandberg can imagine implementing?
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! It is important that we handle this issue with great seriousness. Therefore, I am pleased that the Work Environment Authority is planning a project against work-related mortality resulting from chemical exposure. This project includes, as stated, exposure to quartz, which can lead to silicosis.
It is clearly important that there is guidance for employers and also for the unions on how the issue should be handled. I want to particularly emphasize that Sweden has on several occasions collaborated with Nepsi, the European Network for Quartz, which has been formed by worker and employer organizations in Europe. This is not an issue that is specific to Sweden but obviously also applies internationally.
There is an agreement between worker and employer organizations in Europe on good handling and safe use of crystalline quartz and products containing the same, in order to protect workers' health. Nepsi has developed a guidance on good practice for the protection of workers' health through good handling and use of crystalline quartz and products containing the same. It is available translated into Swedish.
Possibly we should pay more attention to this guidance, so that it becomes better known to unions and employers in Sweden. I share the view that a guidance is needed. It is important that everyone who handles this type of quartz dust knows how to prevent the risks.
Regarding international cooperation, Sweden participates through our membership in the EU in a working group called the Senior Labour Inspectors' Committee, SLIC. Here, a guide has been compiled for national inspectors on respirable silica dust at construction sites and how exposure to silica dust should be prevented. This guide as well, which is aimed at the inspectors, is also available in Swedish.
So, there are guidelines, and there are guides. But I can absolutely see a need to increase the visibility of these so that they are applied to a greater extent.
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! Minister! It is good and well that guidance is available in Swedish. But in the construction sites now, regardless of whether it is here in Stockholm or in Skellefteå, the primary working language is not Swedish. Very many different languages occur in the construction sites. The labor immigration in the sector is record-breaking, while at the same time we have strongly increased unemployment among Swedish construction workers. Here we have a direct mishmash.
But regardless of where you come from, when you come to Sweden to work, the workplace must be safe for both yourself and your colleagues. Therefore, it is extremely important that this problem is highlighted. It cannot be without reason that Australia has completely banned this type of worktop and also the work with them. It is the work step that one must focus on. When cutting one such, you must have the correct equipment.
With the many layers of subcontractors we have in the Swedish construction labor market today, it seems that many parts are failing. Therefore, it is important that Arbetsmiljöverket makes specifically targeted efforts to see if it is a real problem that needs to be addressed.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I completely share the interpellant's view; this is a problem that needs to be made visible. As I said initially, it is very important that this type of work-related injuries and illnesses are not rendered invisible now that we have a great focus on fatal accidents occurring at work.
I see it as positive that we in Sweden do not have the development that has been seen in Australia. With that said, the government is still working based on the zero vision which is part of the work environment strategy. It says that no one in Sweden should have to die either at or from work. As long as any individual worker dies a premature death because of their work, we have more work to do. Then we must constantly see how we can work better and implement sharper measures to reduce deaths both at and outside of work.
The government will continue to look at these issues and closely follow Arbetsmiljöverket's project on precisely chemical exposure, to see how we can push down the death rates.
I would like to thank you for the debate and wish you a pleasant weekend.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.