Cheryl Millership was devastated when she discovered that her four decades as an art teacher and potter had led her to develop chronic lung disease.
Her diagnosis of silicosis in 2018 forced her to abandon the career she loved, most of which had taken place on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
“Doing something with your hands is a very beautiful thing,” Ms. Millership said.
“My favorite part of the job is definitely the look on the kids’ faces when I take something out of the oven.”
He had to stop teaching and making pottery four years ago after being diagnosed with silicosis, a condition he developed after spending decades teaching in what he described as small, poorly ventilated rooms that worked with clay and cleaned their students.
“I did a lot of cleaning after them and trying to keep the area clean is an important part of a pottery teacher’s job,” he said.
“I was aware that I couldn’t have too much dust floating around the room, so you’re constantly cleaning.
“Virtually every surface, including the ground everywhere, will have clay.”
Ms. Millership is concerned that other teachers may be at risk for respiratory illness and are unaware of it. (ABC News)
She suspects that her cleansing regimen prolonged her exposure to silica dust and left her vulnerable to developing silicosis.
After a change of school, she was assigned to a particularly dirty classroom, where she developed a cough that ended her career.
“I developed a very severe coughing fit, like almost asthmatic where you can’t breathe at all,” he said.
Finally, he was diagnosed with what is known as “simple” silicosis in 2018 from prolonged exposure to crystalline silica dust.
“At first I was devastated and scared, because the only type of silicosis I had heard of was the very aggressive type,” Ms Millership said.
Although its variant of silicosis is not as aggressive as others, the symptoms still affect it daily.
“It means I’m out of breath doing certain exercises, it means I have some limitations,” he said.
“That was the end of my life as a pottery teacher.”
Increased regulations for high-risk jobs
WorkSafe recently amended existing silicosis regulations to make it the responsibility of employers to warn their workers of the dangers of working with crystalline silica products and to complete risk assessments to better protect staff.
The regulations say that any workplace where a “crystalline silica process” is carried out, which includes anything that exposes a person to crystalline silica dust, must implement the new regulations.
While WorkCover accepted Ms. Millership’s statement, the Victoria Department of Education indicated that the new regulations would not apply to activities that typically take place in school art rooms.
Work injury lawyer Catherine Sim said the department should implement the changes to WorkSafe.
“Cheryl’s case shows that there is a risk to a person’s health in the workplace from being exposed to crystalline silica,” he said.
“We would say they are under regulation, because there is a process going on and a workplace is the school that exposes a worker to crystalline silica dust.”
Catherine Sim says the education department needs to protect teachers in the workplace. (ABC News)
Ms Sim said it was not always obvious which industries could expose workers to crystalline silica.
“It’s not something that comes to mind when you graduate from a teaching career that you may suffer from a respiratory illness as a result of your work,” he said.
“It’s whether the department itself is aware and takes these precautions to minimize the risk to its employees.”
WorkSafe data shows that the number of claims for silicosis has been steadily declining since 2019 and that most claims continue to come from the manufacturing and construction industries.
A handful of them are emerging in less obvious industries, such as education, electricity, gas, water and waste services, transportation, mail, and storage.
Further changes to the regulations will come into force on July 1, facilitating access to compensation for patients with silicosis.
Calls for safer teaching of pottery
Ms Millership said the risk of developing silicosis was exacerbated because none of the rooms she worked in over the years were built for a pottery course.
“After my diagnosis, I saw no action from the department,” he said.
“I think they have to make people aware that there is a risk and I think when they ask people to teach pottery, it should be done in a specifically built room that has a proper outlet and a better cleaning regime.”
In a statement, the Department of Education said there were policies for handling dry clay.
“The health and safety of all staff and students is our top priority and the Department has clear safety requirements for staff and students, including requirements for taking safety precautions in relation to clay management. dry, “a department spokesman said.
Ms Millership said the policies did not do enough to protect her and that there were not enough pottery teachers who knew the dangers of crystalline silica.
“I don’t think anything has happened to address this risk for the pottery teachers in our schools,” he said.
“I feel worried about people who are still working, still doing the job, but they have no awareness that they are putting themselves at risk every day and that bothers me.”