The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has stepped up its focus on businesses working with engineered stone, following growing concerns about workers being exposed to respirable crystalline silica (RCS).
In May 2026, the HSE launched a nationwide inspection campaign targeting engineered stone fabricators across Great Britain, with more than 1,000 inspections planned during 2026/27. The regulator has made its expectations clear: dry cutting of engineered stone is unacceptable unless a business can demonstrate an equally effective or better method of controlling exposure.
The campaign is already resulting in enforcement action. HSE inspectors have issued Prohibition and Improvement Notices where businesses have failed to adequately control workers’ exposure to RCS, including cases involving inadequate water suppression, unsuitable respiratory protective equipment (RPE), poor segregation and a lack of appropriate health surveillance.
For employers working with engineered stone, now is the time to review existing arrangements and make sure appropriate controls are not only documented, but working effectively in practice.
Engineered stone is an artificial stone manufactured using crushed natural stone or minerals bonded together with resin. It is commonly used for products such as kitchen and bathroom worktops.
The issue is particularly relevant to businesses involved in stone worktop manufacture and fabrication, stonemasonry, construction, kitchen and bathroom installation, and any other activities involving the cutting, drilling, grinding or polishing of engineered stone.
The wider risk from silica is not limited to engineered stone. RCS can also be generated when working with materials such as sandstone, concrete, mortar, bricks and granite.
Some engineered stone can contain up to 95% crystalline silica. Cutting, grinding or polishing it can release very fine particles of RCS into the air. These particles can be breathed deep into the lungs and may cause irreversible damage.
Exposure to RCS is associated with serious diseases including silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. Importantly, significant lung damage can occur before a worker experiences symptoms, and silicosis can continue to worsen even after exposure has stopped.
HSE research found that dry fabrication of engineered stone typically resulted in RCS exposure five to ten times higher than wet methods using equivalent tools.
The issue is not theoretical. HSE statistics recorded 24 cases of silicosis attributed to engineered stone by the end of 2024, including 17 reported during 2024.
Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), employers must assess the risks associated with exposure to hazardous substances and prevent exposure where reasonably practicable or, where this cannot be achieved, adequately control it.
RCS has a Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) of 0.1 mg/m³ as an eight-hour time-weighted average. However, because RCS is a carcinogen, employers should not simply regard the WEL as a target. Exposure must be controlled to as low a level as is reasonably practicable.
Start by reviewing your risk assessments and COSHH assessments.
Identify every activity where engineered stone is cut, drilled, ground, polished, finished or cleaned, including less frequent activities such as maintenance and cleaning equipment.
Consider who could be exposed too. It may not only be the employee operating the tool. Other employees working nearby, cleaners, maintenance personnel and anyone entering a contaminated area could potentially be exposed if dust is allowed to spread.
This should be a priority.
HSE’s current guidance makes clear that dry cutting of engineered stone is unacceptable unless an equally effective or better control can be demonstrated.
Effective on-tool water suppression should therefore be provided when required, with an adequate supply of clean water. Employers also need to consider the silica-containing mist created by wet processes and ensure this is effectively controlled.
Employers should also consider the material itself. HSE recommends working with engineered stone containing the lowest crystalline silica content available as part of the overall approach to reducing exposure.
Having extraction or water suppression equipment installed does not automatically mean exposure is adequately controlled.
Employers should check that controls are appropriate for the task, correctly positioned and being used every time the work is carried out.
Equipment should be properly maintained and examined where required. Work areas should also be organised to minimise the spread of contamination, including segregating dusty activities and restricting access to appropriately trained employees.
An important question to ask is:
If an HSE inspector watched the job being carried out today, could you demonstrate that the controls work in practice?
RPE should complement effective engineering controls rather than being relied upon as the only means of protection.
For cutting, grinding and polishing engineered stone using powered hand-held rotary tools, HSE guidance specifies powered air-purifying respirators (PAPR) with an Assigned Protection Factor (APF) of at least 20. HSE also identifies this level of protection for activities such as cleaning and maintaining machinery where exposure may occur.
Employers should make sure RPE is suitable for the wearer and task, correctly selected, maintained and stored. Where tight-fitting facepieces are used, suitable face-fit testing is also important.
Simply handing an employee a disposable mask is not a substitute for properly controlling silica dust at source.
Good housekeeping is an essential part of controlling RCS exposure.
Settled dust can become airborne again during cleaning or through normal workplace activity. Employers should therefore avoid dry sweeping, brushing or using compressed air to remove silica-containing dust.
HSE recommends suitable wet-cleaning methods or appropriate vacuum equipment, such as an M-class vacuum, depending on the activity. Work clothing and PPE also need to be managed so that contamination is not transferred into clean areas, vehicles or workers’ homes.
This is particularly important because the exposure risk does not necessarily end when the cutting tool is switched off.
Employees need to understand more than simply which PPE they should wear.
Training should cover the health risks associated with RCS, how exposure occurs, the control measures that must be used, correct use of water suppression and extraction systems, RPE requirements, safe cleaning methods and how to report defects or concerns.
Employers should also monitor working practices.
A COSHH assessment stating that water suppression and RPE must be used will offer little protection if employees routinely carry out tasks without them. HSE inspections are therefore likely to look beyond paperwork and consider whether the specified controls are actually being implemented.
Where workers are regularly exposed to RCS and there is a reasonable likelihood that silicosis or COPD may develop, employers must provide appropriate health surveillance.
Health surveillance should form part of the overall risk-management system rather than replace effective exposure controls. It can help identify early signs of work-related ill health and highlight situations where existing controls may need to be reviewed.
Employers should obtain competent occupational health advice to establish an appropriate programme and ensure the required health records are maintained.
HSE’s inspection campaign provides a timely reminder that controlling silica exposure requires more than having a risk assessment filed away.
Businesses working with engineered stone should be able to demonstrate that they have identified the risk, selected appropriate controls, properly maintained equipment, provided suitable RPE and training, implemented safe housekeeping arrangements and introduced health surveillance where required.
Recent enforcement action shows what can happen when these arrangements are missing. HSE has already taken action against businesses for issues including dry cutting without water suppression, unsuitable RPE, failure to segregate work, inadequate extraction and a lack of health surveillance.
With more than 1,000 HSE inspections planned as part of the current campaign, businesses involved in engineered stone fabrication should review their arrangements now rather than wait for an inspector to identify the gaps.
HPC can support businesses in reviewing how they manage exposure to respirable crystalline silica and other hazardous substances.
This can include reviewing workplace risk and COSHH assessments, assessing existing control measures and working practices, reviewing RPE and PPE arrangements, identifying training requirements, reviewing health surveillance arrangements and helping businesses develop practical action plans where improvements are required.
If your business cuts, grinds, drills or polishes engineered stone — or undertakes other activities that could expose employees to silica dust — now is a good time to make sure your arrangements are suitable, effective and compliant.
To find out more information or if you need support reviewing your silica dust controls, please get in contact with our team of experts.
T: 0330 107 1037
LinkedIn: High Performance Consultancy