A manufacturer of popular stone kitchen worktops has been fined £60,000 after HSE inspectors found evidence of shocking failures to control dust exposure in the Slough workshop.
By Belinda Liversedge on 06 June 2025
Engineered stone dust contains up to 95 per cent silica, and younger workers are dying in its wake from a disease known as accelerated silicosis. Are we going fast enough to address the problem?
By Belinda Liversedge on 26 May 2025
Exposure to large amounts of silica dust was among a “catalogue of failures” at an east London construction site, a court heard.
By Belinda Liversedge on 19 March 2025
A stonemasonry firm has received a fine of almost £20,000 for failing to protect workers from silica dust, as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued new advice for stone worktop installers amid continued calls for engineered stone to be banned over its links to silicosis.
By Kerry Reals on 10 January 2025
The sudden and alarming appearance of silicosis cases among engineered stone workers in the UK, against the backdrop of a ban in Australia and in some US States, has suddenly brought the question of how to regulate for health protection in the workplace to the fore.
By Kevin Bampton, BOHS on 04 September 2024
Clinicians at the Royal Brompton hospital in London have warned about the dangers of silica exposure in a recent study published in Thorax. They are currently treating the first identified cases of silicosis caused by working with engineered stone in the UK and have called for a ban on artificial stone to ward off the potential for an increase in silicosis cases.
By Jim Shannon MP on 04 September 2024
If you are in the market for a new kitchen, you will come across engineered stone or ‘quartz’ worktops. Cheap, premium, luxury are words that will be thrown around photos and videos lingering on expanses of shiny, multicoloured stone. But not in Australia, where since July new engineered stone worktops have been banned (although some states allow a six-month transition period).
By Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle on 30 August 2024
Exposure to silica dust during tasks like cutting and sanding concrete, rock and stone can cause debilitating and often fatal lung diseases – making it vital employers prevent or reduce exposure.
By Kevin Harris, Arco Professional Safety Services on 03 April 2023
By Jim Shannon MP on 01 April 2023
