On 11 May 2026, the HSE declared dry cutting of engineered stone unacceptable. Over 1,000 inspections of fabricators are already underway. If you cut, grind or polish engineered stone, this is the moment to get your controls in order.
Engineered stone, the artificial quartz-and-resin material used in most modern kitchen and bathroom worktops, can contain up to 95% crystalline silica. That is three times the silica content of granite. When it is cut, ground or polished dry, it produces respirable crystalline silica (RCS) at concentrations that have killed young workers in months, not decades.
The HSE’s own research, published alongside its 11 May press release, found that dry fabrication typically results in RCS exposure five to ten times higher than wet methods using equivalent tools. That is the regulatory case for the new position: dry cutting is unacceptable, water suppression is how businesses meet the legal requirement, and 1,000-plus inspections over the next 12 months will enforce the line.
Mike Calcutt, HSE Deputy Director, put it bluntly: “To every employer in this sector: the guidance is now published, the expectations are clear, and our inspectors are coming. Those who are cutting corners are not just putting their workers at risk — they are undercutting the businesses doing things properly. We will create a level playing field.”
The Human Cost of Engineered Stone Silica Exposure
This is not abstract. Sadly, Wassam al Jundi died from silicosis on 22 May 2024, aged 28, after working with engineered stone for a UK kitchen-countertop fabricator. His exposure began in 2016; he was diagnosed in 2021. Marek Marzec, who moved to the UK from Poland for a better life for his young family, died on 30 November 2024 of “Artificial Stone Silicosis“, diagnosed at 48. Sky News reports more than 50 confirmed UK silicosis cases linked to engineered stone, with at least four deaths. Doctors describe the disease as the asbestos of the 2020s.
Australia became the first country to ban the manufacture, supply and use of engineered stone on 1 July 2024. The UK has chosen a controls-based route, tighter enforcement, not prohibition. That choice puts more pressure, not less, on every UK fabricator and installer to get the controls right.
What the HSE now says employers must do
The new HSE guidance (COSHH essentials sheet ST3A and the engineered stonespecific page) is unambiguous. These are legal requirements:
- Switch to engineered stone with a low silica content where possible. The HSE position is that lower-silica products are available at the same quality and there is now no reason not to use them.
- Use on-tool water suppression. Minimum 0.5 L/min flow (HSE CIS54). Mains water preferred over pressurised bottle.
- Control the mist generated by water suppression, it still contains crystalline silica. Work within a partially enclosed, externally vented water-wall LEV booth.
- Use Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPR) with an Assigned Protection Factor (APF) of at least 20. Required even with water and LEV.
- Carry out regular health surveillance for workers exposed to RCS.
- Provide mechanical ventilation to prevent the build-up of mist.
- Use M-class vacuums, minimum (H-class HEPA for the worst dust loads). Never sweep, never use compressed air.
The UK Workplace Exposure Limit for RCS is 0.1 mg/m³ over an 8-hour TWA. (Worth noting that the WEL in the United States and Australia is half that figure, there is an active argument that the UK limit is overdue for revision.)
The Mistakes That Cause LEV and Silica Dust Controls To Fail
Even with a good kit, the failure modes are predictable:
Water flow was throttled, intermittent, or switched off “to see the cut line”. Use a wax crayon or proprietary marker that survives water.
Dry “finishing pass” after a wet cut. Generates freshly fractured RCS at the highest concentrations of any operation.
Dry sweeping or compressed-air blow-down of slurry residue. HSE explicitly forbids it. Dried slurry is more dangerous than the original dust.
Recirculated slurry water without treatment. Silica concentration rises, suppression efficiency falls, and Legionella becomes a separate hazard.
M-class vacuum used as a substitute for an LEV booth. They are not the same control, the booth captures mist that the vacuum cannot reach.
COSHH Regulation 9 requires a statutory TExT every 14 months. Without it, you have no evidence that your controls are working, and the HSE inspector will know.
What Engineered Stone Fabricators Should Do Now?
Three things to do this week:
- Read the HSE press release of 11 May 2026 and the updated COSHH guidance sheet ST3A.
- Audit your current setup honestly against the ST3A checklist. If you cannot tick every item, you have a control gap, and the HSE inspector is now actively looking for them.
- Commission a thorough examination and test of your LEV by a competent person, and get exposure measurements taken under realistic working conditions.
If you are a Worktop Fabricators Federation member or aiming for the WFF quality mark, this is now the baseline expected of you. If you are independent, the HSE’s enforcement programme means the same standards apply regardless.
How Vent-Tech can help
Vent-Tech is a member of the LEV Association, BESA, and a BOHS-approved training provider for the testing and design of LEV solutions. We design, install and test control systems for stone fabricators across the UK, everything from water-wall booths and mist extraction through to slurry management, vacuum specification, and the statutory LEV TExT. We are independent of equipment manufacturers, which means we specify the right control for each process, not the one a manufacturer wants to sell.
If you would like a no-obligation conversation about your current controls, or you need a competent person to carry out your LEV examination and testing ahead of the HSE inspector’s visit, get in touch.
Adrian Sims CEng BSc(Hons) FFOH(S) FIPlantE and former FILEVE FCIBSE
Managing Director, Vent-Tech Ltd
Specialist Fellow of the British Occupational Hygiene Society
Former Fellow of ILEVE and CIBSE
BOHS LEV Practitioner of the Year 2025
BOHS Thomas Bedford Medal Winner 2024