A tunnel worker has won a $2.4 million award in an Australian first after being diagnosed with silicosis, with a judge delivering a harsh verdict on contracting firms’ failure to safeguard workers from lethal airborne hazards.
In a ruling issued by the Dust Diseases Tribunal, 53-year-old Craig Bennett received $860,000 in general damages—the largest amount ever awarded in Australia for a dust-related injury. The remaining $1.54 million compensates for his lost earning capacity.
This case marks the first time a road tunnel worker with silicosis has brought such a claim. The decision could carry significant implications for thousands of workers across Australia’s substantial tunneling sector, where one in ten is projected to develop the incurable lung disease.
Judge Andrew Scotting found that Bennett, who suffers from silicosis and progressive massive fibrosis, would be unable to work by age 65 and would face respiratory failure by 70 without a lung transplant.
Bennett was diagnosed in 2020 after a 27-year career in tunneling, including work on major infrastructure projects such as Sydney’s NorthConnex twin tunnel, WestConnex and the Eastern Distributor, and Melbourne’s EastLink.
Defendants in the case included several large contracting firms, namely CPB Contractors, Lendlease, John Holland, and Thiess.
Judge Scotting criticized the companies for failing to protect workers from the dangers of airborne disease, rejecting the argument that Bennett’s illness stemmed from personal negligence.
“The defendants knew or ought to have known that exposing the plaintiff to large quantities of respirable crystalline silica put him at grave risk of serious illness and death,” Scotting wrote, noting that there were several high-level safety measures that could have been implemented.
“The overwhelming cause of the plaintiff’s condition was the egregious breaches of duty committed by each of the plaintiff’s employers.”
The case came on the heels of a 2023 investigation by The Herald, The Age, and 60 Minutes that exposed serious health risks for workers handling engineered stone, leading to bans on manufactured stone benchtops, panels, and slabs with at least 1% silica.
Research from Curtin University in 2022 projects up to 103,000 Australians could develop silicosis due to workplace dust exposure.
Bennett has not commented publicly in detail. He previously told the Herald in early 2023 that a doctor had informed him his illness was advanced and that he would need to quit lucrative tunneling work immediately.
“I broke down in tears in that doctor’s office,” he recalled. “I was at a crossroads. I didn’t know what to do. It was just too much to take in.”
Bennett said he hadn’t yet told his 12-year-old daughter about the diagnosis, fearing her reaction, and hoped to tell her someday.
He continues to work in Brisbane on the Cross River Rail project, describing how protection and information about silica exposure were minimal for most of his career, often limited to a paper face mask that offered little to no real protection according to the judgment.
Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Jonathan Walsh, who represented Bennett, called the judgment precedent-setting and a bellwether warning to workers that courts will compensate fairly.
Judge Scotting rejected the tunneling firms’ claim that the best respiratory equipment alone could prevent dust-related diseases, signaling that substantial safety improvements are needed from both companies and government.
“It’s not that this technology needs to be invented. It already exists. It’s about will and whether these companies are willing to adopt these changes. Or the law needs to be vastly improved to compel adoption of these technologies,” Walsh commented.
Walsh also represents about 30 other tunnellers diagnosed with silicosis, suggesting this case could trigger hundreds more claims at the tribunal.
Requests for comment were made to the contractors.
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