Silica exposures kill over 1,000 workers a year in the UK and leave many more fighting for breath. But, unlike its US counterpart, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is following the industry line and says our deadly silica exposure standard is just fine.

Silica trails only asbestos as a cause of occupational cancer deaths, according to HSE’s cancer burden study, with the regulator estimating the annual silica toll at between 592 and 998 deaths, averaged at 789. Silicosis, tuberculosis (TB), kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and arthritis are among the other harmful and sometimes deadly consequences of silica exposure.