Silica Dust Warning Signs: what to look for in the workplace

Author: Matthew Winn, Public Affairs Manager, British Safety Council.

If you cut, grind, drill, or polish stone, concrete, brick, or sand for a living, this is for you. Silicosis is one of the oldest occupational diseases on record, and its current form is a faster and more deadly form than ever before. Here is what matters.

It comes from dust you can't see

The danger is respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust released whenever these materials are cut, drilled, ground, or polished. Dry work throws far more of it into the air, but wet work only helps if the water suppression is actually working properly. The particles are invisible. You won't see them, you may not feel them, but breathe them in and they scar your lungs for good. There is no cure, and no way to undo the damage once it's done.

Engineered stone has changed the game

The quartz worktops now fitted in kitchens across the country look great and last for years. The catch is what's inside them: a silica content far higher than natural stone. In Australia, fabricators in their twenties and thirties were being diagnosed with aggressive silicosis, so many, and so quickly, that the country banned the material outright in 2024. Cases are now turning up across Europe and here in the UK.

The damage shows up years later

This is what makes silicosis so easy to ignore. You can breathe in the dust today and feel perfectly fine for a decade or more before the illness appears. By then, the harm is already done. The healthy worker on site this morning could be carrying damage that won't surface until long after they've moved on. That delay doesn't make the threat smaller; it makes it harder to see coming.

And it isn't only silicosis. The same dust is linked to lung cancer, COPD, and kidney disease too.

Every case is preventable

Here's the part that should change everything: none of this must happen. Silicosis risks can be reduced (though not removed) when exposure is properly assessed, and effective controls are consistently used.

• Avoid or reduce the hazard. Can the high-silica material or process be avoided altogether?
• When you must cut, cut wet, not dry. Water reduces dust at the source.
• Ventilate and extract. Clear whatever dust remains from the air.
• Wear properly fitted respiratory PPE. A last line of defence, not the first.
• Get regular health checks. It won't undo existing damage, but it can catch problems early.

These are established control measures, but they need to be properly selected, maintained and checked, not just installed and forgotten. None of this is expensive or complicated. It's basic good practice.

Warning signs silica dust may not be properly controlled

Watch for these warning signs that controls aren't working:

• Stone, concrete, or engineered stone is being cut dry
• A visible cloud of dust forms during the work
• Water suppression or extraction is present but doesn't seem to be working
• You haven't been told about the silica risk
• You've been given a mask without face-fit testing
• Dust is cleared with a dry brush or compressed air

Not seeing dust does not mean the air is safe. The most dangerous silica particles are too small to see. You have the right to know the risk and the right to be protected from it. Raise it with your supervisor, safety rep, or trade union rep. One awkward conversation is a small price next to a diagnosis that can't be reversed.

What we're calling for

As a starting point, British Safety Council is calling on the government to ban the dry cutting of stone without control measures, and to require sign-off from a competent person on high-risk work. From here, we’d like to see a full Australia-style ban, with import and export controls to prevent the problem being pushed overseas to countries with less robust regulatory regimes.

We've known how to prevent silicosis for over a hundred years. The only thing standing between us and ending it is the will to act.