Return to Work for Workers Affected by Mine Dust Lung Disease in the Mining and Artificial Stone Industries
This three-year project aims to conduct a comprehensive gap analysis of the return-to-work (RTW) system for workers diagnosed with mine dust lung disease (MDLD), including coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and silicosis.
This three-year project aims to conduct a comprehensive gap analysis of the return-to-work (RTW) system for workers diagnosed with mine dust lung disease (MDLD), including coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and silicosis. The project will identify current practices, barriers, and opportunities within RTW programs across the mining and artificial stone sectors through a combination of literature reviews, stakeholder interviews, and data analysis.
The project will involve interviews with affected workers, RTW coordinators, occupational health professionals, and government representatives to document experiences and develop evidence-based recommendations. Novel approaches include social media data scraping to identify common occupational transitions and the use of sentiment analysis to understand emotional and psychological aspects of the RTW experience.
Findings will be compiled in consultation with project partners and shared across industry, unions, and government. The outcomes will guide improvements in RTW strategies and support systems, with a particular focus on sustainable employment pathways for those who can no longer work in high-dust environments. A key legacy of the project will be the training of a PhD student to become a specialist in RTW for dust-related lung diseases.
Project lead
Dr Nikky LaBranche
Dust and Respiratory Health Program Lead
Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland.
Team Members
Professor Margaret Cook
Academic Lead – Occupational Health and Safety Science
School of the Environment, The University of Queensland
Associate Professor Kelly Johnstone
Program Director - Master of Occupational Hygiene
School of the Environment, The University of Queensland
Associate Professor Kirsten Way
Program Director, Master of Organisational Psychology
School of Psychology, The University of Queensland
Dr David Cliff
Professor of Occupational Health and Safety in Mining,
Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland
Dr Nikodem Rybak
Research Fellow – Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing
Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland.
Amy Henderson
PhD Student,
School of the Environment and Sustainable Minerals Institute