Joe Duggan
Joe Duggan is a reporter for The i Paper whose business coverage centres on how corporate decisions and regulation translate into risks and protections for workers and the reliability and cost of everyday travel. His reporting is defined by sustained investigative work on the silicosis threat from engineered stone kitchen worktops and by detailed coverage of transport and border systems that affect passengers across Europe. He combines campaign-style investigations with consumer-facing business stories, often following an issue from individual cases through to regulatory change and enforcement.
Quartz kitchen worktops and silicosis
Duggan leads The i Paper’s long-running “killer kitchens” investigation into young stonemasons developing silicosis after cutting quartz kitchen worktops without adequate protection. He has documented how tradespeople inhaled toxic silica dust in workshops using engineered stone, resulting in workers in their 20s and 30s being diagnosed with an incurable lung disease and at least four kitchen workers dying in the UK.
His reporting revealed how a specific engineered stone used in modern kitchen renovations was driving a rapid increase in silicosis cases among British workers.
In this coverage, Duggan follows individual workers’ stories in detail, including stonemason Marek Marzec, who spoke to The i Paper about the conditions that forced him to inhale toxic dust shortly before his death from silicosis. The investigation has tracked the growing number of confirmed cases, with at least 11 workers diagnosed in Britain and the youngest patient aged 27. Duggan’s articles link these human stories to the wider kitchen industry supply chain and the regulation of quartz worktop cutting, treating workplace health as a consequence of business practices rather than a separate medical issue.
His silicosis reporting is explicitly framed as public service journalism, with coverage credited for prompting new safety guidance and discussions at ministerial level over tougher regulations on engineered stone. Subsequent pieces have charted concrete policy responses, including a ban on unsafe cutting of engineered stone worktops, inspections for around 1,000 businesses, and the prospect of rogue factory bosses facing prison sentences. Duggan continues to report on enforcement and legislative developments around quartz cutting, maintaining pressure on industry and government long after the initial revelations.
Travel, transport and consumer disruption
Alongside his investigations, Duggan reports business stories on rail and airline disruption, highlighting how infrastructure failures and pricing shifts affect passengers directly. His coverage has included thousands of Eurostar passengers facing travel chaos after trains were cancelled and many more delayed due to cable theft affecting the network, treating the incident as both an operational failure and a consumer crisis.
He writes similarly about airline pricing, such as flights to Italy and Portugal being cut to as low as £45 when passengers delay summer bookings, showing how demand patterns, capacity decisions and competitive pressures filter through to holiday costs.
These transport pieces focus on the lived impact of business decisions: missed connections, overcrowded services, unexpected costs and sudden bargains. Duggan’s reporting links technical issues such as stolen infrastructure or capacity management to broader questions about how transport operators plan for resilience and how regulators oversee key routes. His business beat in this area consistently returns to the passenger experience, using disruption and pricing stories to illustrate how the operation of Europe’s transport systems serves or fails ordinary travellers.
Border systems and biometric checks
Duggan also covers the business and policy dimensions of European border control systems, particularly the rollout of biometric checks for non-EU nationals at Schengen area airports. In joint reporting on the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), he has revealed that at least nine European countries were granted extensions delaying full implementation of biometric border checks until the end of the year.
His coverage explains how Brussels has allowed these member states to postpone compliance after a formal deadline passed, highlighting the practical implications for airport operations and passenger processing.
This border-system reporting treats biometrics and digital infrastructure as part of the business of travel, examining how delays in implementation affect airlines, airports and travellers rather than focusing solely on institutional process. Duggan’s work in this area shows continuity with his transport and silicosis coverage: complex technical and regulatory issues are always tied back to the people who stand in queues, inhale dust, or depend on reliable services to work and live.
Impact, recognition and reporting style
Duggan’s silicosis investigation has been widely cited and recognised within British journalism for its impact on public health policy and workplace safety. His reporting on quartz kitchen worktops and killer kitchen dust has been shortlisted for the Paul Foot Award for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism, reflecting the depth and persistence of the work.
The same body of public service journalism has placed him on the shortlist for the British Journalism Awards, where his revelations about stonemasons suffering deadly lung disease are noted for prompting new safety guidance and minister-level discussions.
Across these stories, Duggan’s reporting style is rigorous and iterative: he returns to the same subject over months and years, testing whether promised bans, inspections and criminal investigations are delivered and what they mean in practice. Whether he is writing about killer kitchen dust, cable theft on key rail routes or delayed biometric checks at airports, the consistent focus is on the consequences of business and regulatory choices for workers and passengers.
This combination of campaign-led workplace health reporting and closely observed transport and border coverage is what distinguishes his business journalism at The i Paper.
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