Safety bosses will keep an outright ban on a kitchen worktop stone blamed for rising cases of deadly lung disease silicosis under consideration, following a crackdown on the unsafe cutting of the material.
Last week, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) unveiled its first regulatory guidance specifically for quartz – also known as engineered stone – to stop “dry cutting”, which exposes workers to deadly dust.
The new guidance tells firms that water-suppression tools to dampen lung-shredding dust are a legal requirement, with HSE now carrying out 1,000 inspections across Britain to ensure the rules are being followed.
Currently, the HSE believes that, rather than an Australia-style ban on quartz, the most “effective and proportionate” approach is to ensure safe cutting practices are enforced.
But speaking at a trade exhibition in London, Mike Calcutt, a deputy director at HSE, did not rule out a future ban.
