Queensland Funds $600,000 Research to Support Workers with Dust Lung Diseases

The following is an abridgement of a media statement by the Queensland Government.

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Almost $600,000 of funding from the Queensland Government has been awarded to The University of Queensland. Funding will facilitate a three-year research project on best practice return to work for workers in the mining and artificial stone industries.

Government Commitment

Research is underway via a Government grant to inform improvements for return-to-work for workers who are diagnosed with early-stage dust lung disease. The grant is part of a government commitment to fund up to five million dollars for medical research to improve the health and wellbeing of workers suffering from occupational dust lung diseases such as silicosis and coal workers’ pneumoconiosis.

Previous and Current Funding Rounds

In 2022, the first round was awarded to Queensland researchers, including interstate and international research partners. Those projects involve collaborations with the University of Chicago, i-Med Queensland and the University of New South Wales on earlier detection of disease, the effectiveness of screening methods and understanding the progression of diseases including pneumoconiosis and silicosis.

This second round of funding targets medical research contributing to available treatment options, rehabilitation, or return-to-work outcomes for workers with occupational dust lung diseases. Following a tender process, a grant for almost $600,000, was awarded to The University of Queensland (UQ). This will support a three-year research project investigating returning to the workplace after a diagnosis of an early-stage occupational dust lung disease.

Complementary Measures

The funding of the research is one of the ways the Miles Government is working to minimise exposure to occupational dust and support diagnosed workers. It complements Queensland’s nation-leading ban on engineered stone products from July 1, the Mine Dust Health Support Service, and the Notifiable Dust Lung Disease Register.

Quotes from Minister for Industrial Relations, Grace Grace

“Sadly, these diseases can be fatal. There is hope through early detection – workers with early stages of a dust disease have a strong potential to return to work, and businesses need to make sure they return to a safe environment with no continued exposure”

Quotes from UQ Sustainable Minerals Institute Research Fellow, Nikky LaBranche

“An important piece of this work will be talking with workers, return-to-work coordinators, occupational physicians, regulators, and others to find out what is working and not working from their perspective. [...] The type of industry that the workers are in can potentially play a factor in the nature of the return-to-work options. In a mining context, there are ways for workers to stay at the mine and continue on in more administrative positions. [...] For the engineered stone industry, where the businesses are much smaller, it is much harder as there are often no jobs out of the dust that people can move into. Another consideration is that many of these workers chose a trade because they want to be out working with their hands, not sitting at a desk or behind a computer all day. [...] There is also a psychological component that comes with being diagnosed with a potentially life-changing disease, which is why the project includes Dr Kirsten Way from the UQ School of Psychology.”