Silica dust safety for worktop production

Silica dust exposure

Recent reports have highlighted the potential health issues related to the production of stone worktops, particularly quartz, particularly lung disease caused by silica dust inhalation. For example, this Sky News investigation: https://news.sky.com/video/share-13542682

Many of our kitchens use natural stone, but quartz remains popular, our customers prizing quartz for its variety, inherent beauty and practical properties.

It is important to note that the risk to health only occurs when the stone is being cut and if any resulting silica dust is inhaled.

We never cut stone during installation, so silica dust will never be released in our customers’ homes.

All our stone worktops arrive pre-cut from carefully selected fabricators.

How our suppliers are protecting their teams from silica dust

While there is no risk to our customers or our team, it’s still important to us that the companies we work with have taken, and continue to take, appropriate steps to protect their workforce.

These are some of the silica dust control measures our fabricators have introduced:

• Adapting their quartz worktop ranges towards lower silica formulations, which release less silica dust when cut.
• Silica dust suppression, including:
  • Automation of cutting processes in fully enclosed system which are water-suppressed to minimise airborne dust. This accounts for approximately 90% of the cutting and machining operations.
  • “Wet processing” for manual cutting wherever possible, to prevent dust going into the air.
  • Exhaust ventilation systems fitted to benches, which draw any dust away from the operator.
  • Cleaning of surfaces always done using water, to prevent secondary dust generation.
• Training and PPE (including respiratory protection) provided to workforce.

At present we are comfortable that our fabricators are taking sufficient steps to protect their teams and therefore will continue to offer quartz and other natural stone worktops.

Kitchen worksurfaces that don’t produce silica dust

There are plenty of low-silica options available instead of quartz. Marble, granite and quartzite are natural stone alternatives. They do still produce some silica dust, but it’s at a much lower level than quartz.

To avoid silica dust altogether, we recommend a Corian worksurface; this is a silica-free product which is as hardwearing as stone and comes in both solid and natural finishes.

Porcelain, steel and wood are other options available.

If you’re concerned about selecting a worktop that looks good and feels ethically sound, our team are here to help. Visit our Sevenoaks kitchen showroom or call us on 01959 53 22 33 to find out more.