Hear from our experts Kate Cole OAM and Nikky LaBranche about silica dust across the mining, quarrying and tunnelling industries. In this webinar you will learn about the prevalence of silica dust across these industries, what control measures can be used to protect your lungs, and how workers can protect themselves.
Kate Cole OAM is a multiple award-winning scientist, engineer, and Certified Occupational Hygienist who has dedicated her career to preventing occupational disease. Her work on silicosis prevention is shaped by a Winston Churchill Fellowship and extensive experience across major infrastructure projects. Kate is a past President of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists, the former co-chair of the National Silicosis Prevention Strategy Expert Steering Committee, and a member of the NSW Dust Diseases Board. Her contributions to workplace health and safety earned her a Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia and inclusion in the Covid-19 Honour Roll in the 2022 Australia Day Honours. Kate is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, researching respirable crystalline silica exposure in tunnel construction workers.
Nikky LaBranche is the Dust and Respiratory Health Program Leader in the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC) within the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) at The University of Queensland. She oversees a $3 million dust research portfolio, focusing on occupational lung diseases. Her work aims to identify occupational and individual risk factors associated with developing respiratory diseases, the rapid progression of diseases among dust-exposed workers and factors critical to the development, severity, and progression of coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP or black lung) and silicosis. Her newest project seeks to improve the return-to-work system for individuals with dust lung injuries.
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