A Chicago countertop manufacturer failed to protect its workers from exposure to silica, leaving a father and son in need of lung transplants, federal labor officials said.
Florenza Marble & Granite exposed employees to silica levels up to six times higher than permitted, leaving a 31-year-old worker, his 59-year-old father and a co-worker with silicosis, an incurable lung disease, the U.S. Department of Labor said. Monday in a news drop.
In addition, a 47-year-old Florenza employee had been treated for unresolved work-related lung disease for more than three years, the agency said.
Federal inspectors found in February that workers at the company worked in a haze of dust and improperly used required respirators, with few controls to reduce exposure to silica when cutting residential and commercial stone countertops, the Labor Department said.
Risks of silica dust
A hundred times smaller than a grain of sand, silica dust can lead to, among other things, lung cancer and silicosis, an irreversible scarring and hardening of the lungs, according to to the occupational safety and health administration.
Florenza Marble and owner Brad Karp had no security program to monitor their six workers. Two workers’ comp insurers refused to insure the company in 2022 and 2024 for failing to provide air samples or proof of coverage, according to the agency.
Karp did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
OSHA cited Florenza for 32 safety and health violations and is proposing more than $1 million in penalties.
The two workers, who suffer from silicosis, have limited English and did not receive information from their employer about the dangers of silica exposure or training in the use of equipment to protect themselves, according to labor regulators.
The life expectancy of people with silicosis is reduced by about 11 years, and the chances of surviving at least 15 years after a lung transplant are less than 11%, according to to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.