I have a deadly lung disease from killer kitchen dust. These worktops must be banned

Specialists told the father-of-two his condition was related to dust exposure from cutting engineered stone, a material which has become hugely popular in home renovations and costs a fraction of the price of natural stone like granite or marble.

This week, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced a new crackdown on deadly quartz silica dust, issuing its first regulatory guidance on cutting engineered stone.

The new guidance, which comes as a result of The i Paper’s Killer Kitchens campaign, states that using water-suppressing tools to control dust – known as wet cutting – is a legal requirement for firms and that unacceptable dry cutting must stop.

The i Paper’s campaign has also led to a new safety kitemark-type scheme to protect young workers from the deadly dust and inform homeowners that worktops for home revamps have been cut safely.

Rogue factory bosses who breach health and safety law risk potential criminal prosecution, an unlimited fine and up to two years in prison.

But Fenton, who lives near Ipswich says it’s “ridiculous” that an outright ban on quartz has not been introduced in the UK, as has been done in Australia.

He told The i Paper: “You can have all the water-fed tools in the world. You can have all the dust extractors, all the masks, all the PPE, all the best stuff. There’s still going to be dust in the air and on your clothes.

“Just ban it. Find an alternative.”

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Unite the Union have also backed a full ban on manmade quartz, which has a silica content as high as 95 per cent, much higher than more expensive, natural kitchen stone like marble and granite.

Prior to this week’s measures being unveiled, the HSE conducted two years of research into the risks posed by engineered stone.

It found that dry cutting exposes workers to lethal silica dust – known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS) – at levels five to 10 times higher than wet cutting.

The regulator’s position is that, rather than an outright ban on quartz, the most “effective and proportionate” action is to ensure proper controls are in place and actively enforced.

As part of its crackdown, HSE is also launching a nationwide inspection campaign of 1,000 stone fabrication businesses to root out rogue employers, with the results of the blitz likely to inform the regulator’s future thinking.

‘Follow Australia’s lead’

Fenton believes more should have been done already to tackle the risk and called for regulations to be “really ramped up” to protect workers, with doctors warning that silicosis cases from quartz are likely to increase significantly in the coming years.

“It’s a good thing that they’re doing something. But, sadly, it’s come three to five years too late,” he said.

The UK first saw silicosis cases linked to quartz in 2023, but Australia’s first cases emerged in 2015, with hundreds of young stonemasons subsequently diagnosed, leading to a ban in 2024.

In the US, California has seen over 500 cases, with thousands reported in Spain as well.

Doctors in the UK are among those who have also called on the Government to consider a ban to try and avoid the epidemic of cases seen in other countries.

Fenton said: “What makes me laugh is, when I was first diagnosed, they’re saying that there were already these health and safety regulations in place, and I’m like, really?

“They weren’t. They were either being ignored or companies were just simply not aware of the actual rulings and regulations.”

Many of the kitchen stone workers who have been diagnosed with silicosis have reported working in small factories where slabs were cut without adequate safety measures.

But Fenton said that while moves to stamp out dust exposure from wet cutting were to be welcomed, tradesmen installing kitchen countertops who do not have access to the necessary tools are still at risk.

“It’s all very well saying that’s completely banned. But you’re in the customer’s house, and you have to notch around the pipe, or that doesn’t quite fit, so you’ve got to cut a bit off the back,” he said.

“Where are you going to get these water-fed tools in the garden? You’re not, are you? So you take it in the garden and you cut it, and the dust is there.”

For the sake of his health, he quit as a stonemason 20 months ago, retraining as an adult support worker, a career change that left him as much as £800 a month worse off.

He recently returned to the building industry as a self-employed painter, decorator, and carpenter, but refuses any work that exposes him to stone dust.

“I don’t explain. I just say, I no longer do that,” he added.

Liz Jarvis, Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh, who raised a presentation bill in Parliament calling for better provisions to prevent silicosis, praised The i Paper’s Killer Kitchens campaign, but added: “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 Government must ensure that they move quickly and ambitiously to combat this problem.”

The Department for Work and Pensions, which oversees the HSE, has said banning or restricting engineered stone supply would have implications for the use of natural stone with similar levels of silica dust, known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS).

It points to a well-established regulatory framework under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations, which already require employers to prevent exposure to RCS.