Regulatory Podcast Episode 2: Silica Dust – Regulation, Risk and Reform
August 5, 2025
We’re back with Episode 2 of The Six Pump Court Regulatory Podcast, our series exploring the legal and policy challenges shaping regulatory and public law.
In this episode, Doug Scott is joined by Angelica Rokad to discuss the risks associated with silica dust exposure and the current regulatory regime. Angelica explains what respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is, how it arises in everyday industries like construction and manufacturing, and the serious health consequences of long-term exposure – including silicosis and other debilitating lung diseases.
They explore some of the requirements placed on employers under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, including the legal limits for exposure and obligations to inform and protect workers. Angelica highlights recent Health and Safety Executive prosecutions and discusses the tragic case of Wessam al Jundi, whose death prompted a Prevention of Future Deaths report questioning whether enough is being done to prevent similar incidents.
Doug and Angelica also discuss potential regulatory reform, including calls to lower the UK’s legal exposure limit and the international context, with countries like Australia banning engineered stone altogether.
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