Thomas Bushby, the owner of stone company JLD Stone in Co Durham, has been fined for exposing workers to dust and vibration in spite of having been advised by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) about avoiding the dangers.

Exposure to respirable crystalline silica present in stone dust can cause silicosis and lung cancer. There are legal limits to the level of exposure, yet operators at JLD Stone were not provided with masks for tasks which needed them, while other operators were provided with masks which were not suitable due to facial hair.

More respirable dust was added to the atmosphere when it was swept up rather than being vacuumed, Consett magistrates’ court heard when Thomas Bushby appeared before them in November.

Employees were also exposed to vibration when using tools including air hammers. No assessment had been made of the risk, and lower level vibration tools that would have greatly reduced exposure to vibration had not been identified for the work.

An employee had been diagnosed with hand-arm vibration syndrome in 2009 and another was diagnosed with the condition in 2014.

During an investigation, HSE found that no health surveillance had been carried out on employees between 2008 and 2014. Regular health surveillance is a way to identify early symptoms of disease so action can be taken to stop it getting worse.

Thomas Bushby, of Castleside, Consett, was fined a total of £2,500 and was ordered to pay £1,921.29 in costs after pleading guilty to offences under Regulation 7 (1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 and Regulation 5 (1) and 7 (1) of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005.

Speaking after the hearing, Health & Safety Executive inspector Fiona McGarry said: “Serious irreversible ill health or even death can result from exposure to silica, and hand arm vibration syndrome is a permanent disabling condition. Employers need to take action to ensure they are providing adequate control to protect the health of employees.”