Construction Safety Nova Scotia raises awareness about silica-related lung diseases
Construction Safety Nova Scotia (CSNS) has launched a province‑wide awareness campaign to spotlight the long‑term dangers of crystalline silica exposure on job sites and push both employers and regulators toward stronger prevention measures.
Making an invisible hazard visible
The Lung Squatters campaign, funded in part through the Province of Nova Scotia’s Occupational Health and Safety Education Trust Fund, uses dark humour and an 80s/90s sitcom aesthetic to personify respirable crystalline silica as unwanted “squatters” that move into a worker’s lungs and never leave. The goal is to make an often‑overlooked hazard more visible—and more memorable—for workers and employers in construction and related trades.
CSNS CEO MJ MacDonald says silica has not received the same public attention as other occupational carcinogens, despite being ubiquitous in construction materials such as concrete, brick, stone, and tile, and despite its link to silicosis, lung cancer, and COPD. Silica dust is generated during common activities such as cutting, drilling, grinding, or crushing these materials, and the resulting particles are often too small to see.
“The analogy we’re using is to asbestos,” says MacDonald. “Everybody has gotten the message over many, many years that asbestos is a very dangerous material. And we would like silica to similarly get that level of awareness.”
Focusing on employers while equipping workers
MacDonald stresses the association’s primary audience is employers, who bear the legal responsibility for providing safe workplaces. The campaign website, lungsquatters.ca, offers step‑by‑step guidance to help employers identify sources of silica on job sites, select and implement dust control measures, and choose appropriate personal protective equipment. It also includes templates, toolbox talks, posters, and Nova Scotia‑specific regulatory information drawn together in one place.
“There’s a huge educational component to this,” she said. “Our primary target audience is the employers and helping them to understand what their responsibility is, helping them to understand what the risks are, what the hazard is.”
Workers are a key secondary audience. The site includes practical information on how tradespeople can protect themselves and co‑workers from silica dust, a PPE checklist, guidance on the right to refuse unsafe work, and an interactive quiz to reinforce core concepts, complementing the campaign’s mass‑media creative. CSNS estimates more than 10,000 workers in Nova Scotia are potentially exposed to silica dust every year, primarily in construction and skilled trades.
One of the central challenges, MacDonald acknowledges, is the long latency between exposure and disease. Silica‑related illnesses often do not manifest for 20 to 30 years, complicating both diagnosis and prevention efforts. Silicosis can also be misdiagnosed as tuberculosis, further obscuring the link to workplace exposure.
“We need you to take this seriously because you may not realize this right now, but your continued exposure puts you at risk, and it’s an irreversible risk,” says MacDonald. “It’s not like you cut yourself and it heals… this has long‑term health consequences.”
Measuring success beyond disease rates
In the near term, CSNS is defining success in terms of awareness and behaviour change rather than disease rates, which will take decades to reflect any impact. The association will track traffic to the campaign site, employer engagement with the tools, and survey data on awareness of silica as an occupational hazard.
“Success for us is going to be seeing changes in those metrics over time and seeing the awareness levels and actions being taken increase as well,” MacDonald said.
Ultimately, the long‑range goal is a reduction in lung cancers, silicosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease linked to silica exposure. However, MacDonald notes directly attributing those improvements to reduced exposure will be difficult because of the long latency periods and diagnostic challenges.
Pushing for stronger, more explicit regulation
Beyond education, CSNS is also using the campaign to press for stronger regulatory language in Nova Scotia. Currently, provincial OHS regulations require employers to identify workplace hazards in general terms, but do not explicitly call out silica.
“It’s not as specific as we would like to see naming certain types of hazards. Other jurisdictions such as Ontario and BC are more explicit… we would recommend that our regulations need to be similar and that they’re far more explicit and directive around some of those types of hazards.”
CSNS is working closely with the province’s Department of Labour and its safety division, which has already directed inspectors to pay closer attention to silica exposure on site and to require employers to show how they are addressing it in their safety plans.
MacDonald argues silica needs to be treated with the same seriousness as asbestos: as a pervasive, invisible hazard that demands proactive controls, consistent enforcement, and a long‑term view of worker health. The Lung Squatters campaign, she says, is designed to start that shift in culture—by getting employers and workers to see, and then act on, a hazard that can otherwise remain out of sight until it is far too late.
