Working across Queensland, visiting metal workshops, fabrication shops, stone yards and manufacturing floors, I meet hardworking people every day. But there is one thing that constantly worries me:
Many workers still grind, polish, and cut without wearing any respiratory protection.
No mask.
No face shield.
Just direct exposure to ultra-fine dust.
I’m not writing this to preach. I’m writing because I’ve seen too much, and I care too much about this industry and the people in it.
Grinding, polishing, and cutting all generate a huge amount of ultrafine particles, often 1–5 microns in size. These particles:
Are invisible:
Bypass the body’s natural filters
Settle deep inside the alveoli
Cannot be expelled once inhaled
Trigger chronic inflammation
Eventually cause pulmonary fibrosis — known as pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis is permanent.
There is no cure, only long-term management.
Doctors often describe it like this:
> “The patient’s lungs look as if they have been filled with cement.”
And by the time symptoms appear — shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing — it’s already too late.
This is not theory.
This is not imagination.
This is something widely reported by Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, Beijing News, Southern Weekly and many others.
In Xinmi City, Henan Province, dozens of stone-processing workers developed severe pneumoconiosis after years of dry cutting and grinding stone slabs without proper masks or ventilation.
Many of them were in their 20s and 30s when they started.
Strong, healthy, trying to support their families.
But after 5–10 years, symptoms appeared:
They couldn’t climb stairs
They couldn’t walk 20 meters without gasping
Some relied on oxygen just to get through the day
Many lost their ability to work long before age 40
One worker said:
“The dust wasn’t visible, so we thought it wasn’t serious.
By the time we realized, our lungs were already gone.”
This case became one of the most painful public health lessons in China’s industrial history — and the cause was simple:
Not wearing respiratory protection.
In Australia, workshops are busy.
Deadlines are tight.
Everyone is under pressure.
But safety cannot rely on “reminders” or “self-awareness.”
Companies must:
Provide PPE
Enforce mandatory mask and shield usage
Offer proper training
Build a safety-first culture
Supervise and follow up
If we can enforce production quality,
If we can enforce timesheets,
Then we absolutely can enforce respiratory protection.
I’ve spent years supplying abrasive products across Australia, and every time I see workers cutting steel or polishing surfaces without masks, it worries me.
So from today onward:
Abrasivestocks will provide FREE N95 masks to all our customers.
They are comfortable, breathable, and suitable for long hours of grinding and cutting.
If your workshop needs them:
📧 Email us — we’ll send them to you for free.
And from now on:
Every shipment leaving Abrasivestocks will include free N95 masks for your workers.
It's a small gesture, but if it prevents even one long-term lung injury, it is 100% worth it.
We supply abrasive products, but we also care about the people using them.
A strong industry isn’t built only on machines and materials — it’s built on healthy workers.
Once the lungs are damaged, there is no going back.
Protect them today.