The kitchen and bathroom industry as well as safety experts and politicians have reacted to the Health & Safety Executive’s (HSE) new engineered stone guidance after regulators stopped short of introducing a full UK ban on the material.
As revealed by kbbreview earlier this week, the HSE has formally prohibited the dry cutting of engineered stone as part of a wider crackdown on respirable crystalline silica (RCS), the dust linked to the incurable lung disease silicosis. However, despite growing pressure from campaigners and parts of the industry, the regulator decided against following Australia’s lead with an outright ban on engineered stone products.
The announcement prompted strong reaction across the KBB sector and beyond, with many welcoming tighter regulation but others arguing the measures still do not go far enough.
Liberal Democrat MP Liz Jarvis, who tabled a Presentation Bill in Parliament earlier this year calling for stronger protections around silica exposure, said she was concerned the latest changes may not address “the crux of the problem”.
“I am glad that measures are finally being taken to help protect people regularly exposed to silica dust,” she said. “My Presentation Bill called for better provisions for prevention and reporting of both silicosis and other lung diseases and this change in guidance makes some steps towards that.
“However, I am concerned that the crux of the problem may not be fixed because whilst the guidance is welcome, it needs to be regularly and effectively enforced and more could be done to address concerns around the monitoring of silicosis.”
The HSE has pledged to carry out more than 1,000 inspections across the industry during spring and summer to ensure the new rules are being followed.
Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, said: “Every worker deserves to come home safe, without fear of losing their life to a preventable, deadly lung disease caused by their job. This new guidance gives businesses clear, unambiguous instructions on what the law requires.”
But several industry figures said the decision not to ban high-silica quartz entirely represented a missed opportunity.
William Durrant, founder of retailer Herringbone House, which previously stopped selling high-silica quartz products and campaigned for its ban, said the UK was falling behind countries such as Australia.
“Any type of ban is great, and a step in the right direction, although HSE missed an opportunity to ban high-silica quartz,” he said. “Countries like Australia have made this step, due to the clear health risks for stonemasons. We were the first to ban this product in the UK and it is incredibly sad to see young tradesmen continuing to become ill and sadly die.
“High-silica quartz is a luxury product that is just not necessary. There are so many great other worktop choices.”
Others suggested the latest HSE move may accelerate an industry-wide transition towards low- and zero-silica alternatives. Athena Stone managing director Adam Miles said his business had already spent years preparing for tighter regulation.
“We’ve been banging the low/zero silica drum for five years now,” he said. “It feels like the regulators are working with suppliers to ensure that only happens when there are alternatives,” he said. “[Big suppliers] will both have viable alternatives by the end of year so if anything does happen I’d imagine it will be once it doesn’t impact smaller fabricators.”
Caesarstone UK managing director Edward Smith backed the HSE’s dry-cutting prohibition but warned the wider market still lacked sufficient transparency around imported and unbranded surfaces. Protecting fabricators must remain the priority,” he said. “However, if kitchen studios and specifiers are to make informed decisions about the materials they choose, the market also needs far greater transparency.
“A significant proportion of surfaces in circulation are unbranded products entering the market without clear provenance, technical documentation or accessible safety data sheets.”
Chris Wragg, Managing Director of the Danesmoor Group, also welcomed the focus on compliance and accountability. “Sadly, these silicosis cases are a result of unregulated fabricators and manufacturers that don’t prioritise employee safety or health,” he said. “All of this is entirely preventable, but the responsibility lies with the industry to do it properly – so companies need to be held accountable as a matter of necessity.
“As one of the major companies in the worktop market, we have a responsibility to not only our staff but also to our customers, to ensure we are advocating for best safety and working practices. By creating a culture of responsibility, transparency and continuous improvement, the industry can safeguard its workforce while maintaining high standards of craftsmanship at the same time.”
Meanwhile, Carysil CEO Marcus Smyth said the industry should now move beyond simple compliance and embrace safer materials more proactively.
“While the HSE’s crackdown on dry cutting is a vital step, we believe the industry can go further,” he said. “By choosing materials that are inherently safer to process, we can protect the health of every worker in the supply chain.”
Kevin Bampton, Chief Executive Officer of the British Occupational Hygiene Society, said: “While the cause of headline-grabbing acute silicosis lies with businesses which blatantly flout the law and exploit workers, HSE’s revised guidance provides much-needed clarity for the mainstream industry and for the professionals supporting it.
“As the UK’s leading scientific organisation on health protection in the workplace, we are grateful to HSE’s science team for addressing previously unanswered questions about the effectiveness of controls. The guidance reflects this evidence base and brings clarity to what is needed to help protect workers.”
