A stonemason from Dunfermline, Fife, who developed chronic lung disease and lung cancer after decades of exposure to silica dust is warning others about the dangers on building sites.
Athol Hill, 56, started as an apprentice in 1986 at age 16. He said he was "cutting stone right from the off" but there were "not a lot" of safety measures in place at the time. As a result, he regularly inhaled silica dust, which can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause irreversible damage over time.
Hill has been diagnosed with silicosis, a chronic lung disease, and lung cancer, requiring half of his left lung to be removed. He also had his right index finger amputated in 2006 after developing scleroderma, a rare autoimmune condition that causes hard, thickened areas of skin.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Hill said his current job is "very health and safety conscious," but the damage was already done. He was diagnosed with simple silicosis in both lungs in 2010 after a routine lung test led to a CT scan. In December 2021, a CT scan showed an abnormality in his left lung, and he was told he had lung cancer at age 52.
After a biopsy in February 2022 confirmed three malignant tumours, Hill had half of his left lung removed at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary that April. Doctors told him there was no need for chemotherapy because they were "quite confident" they got it all. However, in April 2026, a follow-up PET scan showed three more tumours in the remaining part of his left lung and in his pancreas. Hill had part of his pancreas and spleen removed in September and is waiting to find out if he can start chemotherapy.
Impact on Health and Work
Hill's diagnoses mean his breathing is particularly affected by bad weather, and he gets "a lot more breathless" while completing physical tasks at work. He said: "It's a great job and I've loved it, but when I started I didn't know it was going to cost me my health. I know a few guys who have died due to [complications from] inhaling silica dust and I just want that to stop. It's too late for me now… but [I'm sharing my story] for the young guys coming through. If it can save lives in the future, then that's a good thing."
Hill said he was "thrown in the deep end" and was cutting stone from the very beginning of his career. At the time, he said there were "zero" safety measures on sites he worked on, except for a paper mask "if you were lucky." By the end of the 1990s, he heard about silica dust for the first time after learning of older colleagues "suffering from ailments" because of it.
Industry Concerns and Prevention
Scott McGibbon, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, confirmed silica dust can lead to silicosis, lung cancer, and scleroderma, along with "over 100 types of other interstitial lung diseases." Stonemasonry accounts for one in four (26%) reported silicosis cases in the UK, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Building.
McGibbon told PA Real Life: "No one should have to face a life-changing diagnosis because the risks of their work were not properly understood or controlled. We have an opportunity to prevent thousands of future cases of occupational disease… (but) that requires stronger government leadership, better training, and embedding silica dust management into the way projects are procured, planned and delivered."
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 primarily governs the current regulatory framework for protecting construction workers from silica dust in the UK. The Workplace Exposure Limit is set at 0.1 milligrams of silica dust per cubic metre of air, averaged over an eight-hour period, with workers often using air purifying respirators and FFP3 masks for high-risk tasks.
In his current role as a site manager, Hill said he has to "pull people up for cutting without using any protection." He added: "Companies can put all the measures possible in place, but it's still down to the individual. Education is the only way you're going to get the message across, particularly with older workers who are used to just cracking on."
