In what it calls “a landmark first for British manufacturing”, The Worktop Fabricators Federation (WFF) is launching a new industry quality mark to help identify surfaces that have been produced safely, in an effort to protect the health of fabricators.
Set to be officially rolled out this year, the new scheme follows rising diagnoses of silicosis which has been linked to unsafe working practices. According to the WFF, consumers, designers, retailers and specifiers will be able to use the mark to distinguish surfaces fabricated by responsible businesses from those that “compromise standards and endanger the workforce”.
The new scheme will be underpinned by regular, independent workplace assessments conducted by professionally registered occupational hygienists, who will focus on the recognition, evaluation and control of workplace health hazards.
Participating fabricators will also have to commit to robust management systems and processes designed to prevent hazardous exposure, monitor workers’ health, and ensure comprehensive training and awareness of the dangers associated with poor practices, including the safe storage and handling of materials.
In addition, the WFF says that participating companies will also have to actively promote the Lungs at Work project, which provides a direct referral pathway for workers to access medical screening if they may have been over-exposed to respirable crystalline silica in the past. Accredited businesses will also have to commit to enhanced health surveillance aligned with new clinical recommendations for early detection of respiratory risk.
Once the scheme is up and running, companies’ accreditation status will be clearly displayed and easily verified via the WFF’s website, with the mark also extending beyond engineered stone to cover all high-silica materials that could pose a health risk.
The new accreditation aligns with both British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance on the suitable and sufficient control of risks arising from working with high-silica materials, with BOHS experts said to be “continually reviewing and strengthening the criteria”.
“The WFF quality mark should give the supply chain and consumers a clear choice,” said Kevin Bampton, the chief executive officer of the BOHS. “Buying a worktop from an accredited company means you are buying from a business able and willing to protect a worker’s health. Buying elsewhere means you are willing to risk having a beautiful kitchen at the cost of someone’s health or life.”