Employers who fail to deal adequately with deadly silica dust could face up to 10 years in prison or a $2.2 million fine under new measures introduced by the Minns government.

The move comes with state and territory work health and safety ministers meeting in the coming weeks to determine whether engineered stone containing up to 95 per cent crystalline silica will be banned in Australia.

An extensive joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes earlier this year detailed the lethal cost to stonemasons and workers who spent years cutting the engineered stone slabs without appropriate safety protection.

The dust of silica is toxic if inhaled and becomes implanted in the lungs, but a confluence of inept regulation and recalcitrant businesses ignoring existing laws has resulted in rocketing numbers of workers being diagnosed with silicosis.

Minister for Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis said the new laws demonstrated the government’s determination to act on workplace safety.