Deadly dust: why processing popular kitchen countertops is killing workers

The artificial stone processing sector in Cyprus is facing a worrying worker safety situation, worsened by the lack of accurate statistics and proper oversight.

According to the largest trade unions, SEK and PEO, cases of cancer are being recorded among employees at local manufacturing sites. The main difficulty at present is that it has not yet been possible to scientifically and legally prove a direct link between cancer and working conditions in the workshops. Employers and inspection authorities often attribute this to external factors, since many of those who fell ill smoked or had other individual health risks.

At the same time, regular complaints from employees about skin and respiratory diseases officially confirm the loss of temporary work capacity due to poor conditions. As for severe occupational lung diseases such as pneumoconiosis, the unions have no concrete statistics on them — these data are simply not available in the country.

Head of the SEK Builders' Union Stelios Katalanos points out that the root of the problem is systemic in nature. Small workshop owners are massively ignoring basic safety measures (such as protective masks, powerful ventilation systems and water cooling systems to suppress dust), seeing them solely as unnecessary financial costs for business. The State Department of Labour Inspection is currently not commenting on what is happening in the sector.