This podcast is dedicated to the new epidemic of accelerated silicosis in artificial stone countertop fabrication workers. In each episode we'll explore important topics and issues about this occupational health epidemic as well as associated lawsuits.
Hosted by James Nevin, a leading voice on occupational health litigation and a partner at Brayton Purcell LLP, the series serves as both an educational platform and a call to action.
Este podcast está dedicado a la nueva epidemia de silicosis acelerada en trabajadores de la fabricación de encimeras de piedra artificial. En cada episodio exploraremos temas y asuntos importantes relacionados con esta epidemia de salud ocupacional, así como las demandas legales asociadas.
Conducida por Charley Velasco Ariza, una voz líder en litigios de silicosis en piedras artificiales y abogado de Brayton Purcell LLP, la serie sirve como plataforma educativa y como llamado a la acción.
Latest Episodes
January 26, 2026
Episode 11: Testimony from Cal OSHA and HR 5437
January 14, 2025
Episode 10: Urge Cal-OSHA to adopt WOEMA petition and Congress to Reject HR 5437
This episode urges Cal‑OSHA to ban artificial stone with over 1% crystalline silica and calls on Congress to reject HR 5437, arguing that removing these toxic slabs—and preserving workers’ ability to hold foreign manufacturers accountable—is essential to stopping the silicosis epidemic.
December 18, 2025
Episode 9: 600+ Doctors Petition Cal-OSHA to Ban Artificial Stone
This episode covers WOEMA’s urgent call for California to ban artificial stone slabs with more than 1% crystalline silica, arguing that only removing these toxic products from the market can stop the rapidly escalating, entirely preventable silicosis epidemic among fabrication workers.
November 18, 2025
Episode 8: When Good People Are Tricked by Bad Companies
This episode argues that California’s SB 20—shaped by foreign slab‑manufacturer lobbyists—fails to protect workers and instead deepens the artificial‑stone silicosis crisis, underscoring that only a full ban on crystalline‑silica artificial stone can stop this preventable epidemic.
October 27, 2025
Episode 7: Ban Artificial Stone
This episode argues that the only way to stop the accelerating silicosis epidemic is to ban high‑silica artificial stone entirely, since it cannot be fabricated safely and continues to endanger thousands of workers despite decades of evidence and failed safety controls.
September 23, 2025
Episode 6: The Horrific Impact of Artificial Stone Silicosis
This episode explains why juries award massive damages to artificial‑stone workers by detailing the extreme, preventable suffering caused by accelerated silicosis and the role of slab manufacturers in introducing a uniquely hazardous product into an otherwise safe industry.
September 10, 2025
Episode 5: Artificial Stone vs. Natural Stone
Artificial stone’s extreme silica content, nano‑sized particles, and toxic chemical coatings make its dust far more dangerous than natural stone, overwhelming standard safety controls and driving accelerated silicosis in fabrication workers.
August 27, 2025
Episode 4: Hierarchy of Controls
This episode explains why traditional safety controls fail to protect workers from artificial stone dust, arguing that only eliminating or substituting high‑silica engineered stone can meaningfully prevent silicosis.
August 13, 2025
Episode 3: Understanding Silicosis
Episode 3 explains how respirable crystalline silica from artificial stone causes rapidly progressing, often fatal lung disease, tracing silicosis from its history to its modern accelerated and acute forms in today’s fabrication workers.
July 30, 2025
Episode 2: The Hidden Dangers of Artificial Stone
July 16, 2025
Episode 1: Introduction to From Dust to Verdict
This episode launches From Dust to Verdict, a podcast examining the accelerated‑silicosis crisis in artificial‑stone workers and outlining upcoming discussions on health risks, safety, medical support, legal rights, and industry accountability.
