'Black lung' back for the first time in decades

Three cases of Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis — or black lung — have been detected in three months at coal mines in Queensland, a situation which the CFMEU says could be the tip of the iceberg for a disease that had been wiped out in Australia half a century ago.

Black lung, caused by a build-up of coal dust in the lungs from poor ventilation and health standards in coalmines, ceased to be a health concern for coalminers largely due to a regulatory system that was set up to monitor and detect a range of health issues affecting workers.

However, the CFMEU believes the outbreak of new cases means the system, which included X-rays for workers, has not been maintained and is now concerned the disease has re-emerged in unknown proportions.

“It’s appalling that companies and regulatory bodies have let health standards deteriorate, putting the lives of workers at serious risk,” CFMEU Queensland District President Stephen Smyth said.

“This is a disease that takes hold gradually and we’re extremely concerned that recent diagnoses are just the tip of the iceberg.

“Of great concern is that Australian health and regulatory frameworks are no longer equipped to deal with the disease.”

A report from the Queensland Government’s Health Improvement and Awareness Committee shows that local authorities do not have the required qualifications to read and interpret X-rays, which has led to a reported backlog of around 100,000 X-rays that need to be reviewed.

Smyth said specialists from the United States were brought in to assess the recent diagnosed cases because local medical facilities lacked the capacity.

“There is no way to judge the size of the problem affecting coalmine workers in Queensland, or for how long it has been an issue, because the regulatory system has broken down and the medical specialists don’t exist in Australia to deal with it,” said Smyth.

“There is a real possibility that many more current and ex-mine workers are living and working in Queensland with the disease undiagnosed.

“Failure to detect black lung early means that miners will continue to work in the coalfields at a devastating cost to their health.”

The CFMEU said it welcomes the Queensland Government’s decision to conduct a review and is seeking urgent action from government and industry to address this issue.

The union has outlined a number of recommendations which it says need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. These include:

• obtaining and processing all exposure data for 2015;
• considering the establishment of an industry database for coal mines to monitor all personal exposure data;
• ensuring suitably qualified ‘B Readers’ review all X-rays taken of coalmine workers for dust disease, not just medical conditions;
• identifying other at-risk workers by randomly sampling those with 15–20+ years of service in the industry and performing checks;
• implementing a system to clear the backlog of 100,000 outstanding worker medicals;
• implementing a community outreach process to encourage people in the Queensland towns of Ipswich, Collinsville, Blackwater and Moura to come forward and get checked;
• ensuring chest X-rays be mandatory and regular for mine workers, as well as on termination.

The union said it is also important that screening extends beyond the employment of a worker to ensure anyone diagnosed with black lung in the future will receive the support they need.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Anatoly Tiplyashin