How you can check your kitchen worktop has been made without killer dust

Participating firms from trade body the Worktop Fabricators Federation (WFF), which represents around 100 companies and more than 60 per cent of the market, will be inspected by occupational hygienist experts registered with the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS).

Checks will ensure quartz slabs are being cut using key water suppressing processes which prevent deadly silica dust from manmade quartz, which can contain silica content as high as 95 per cent.

Exposure to this lung-shredding dust – known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS) – has led to more than 50 young quartz workers, many in their 20s and 30s, being diagnosed with silicosis since mid-2023. Their average age is 43.

At least four have died and three are on the list for a lung transplant, with doctors warning case numbers are expected to rise significantly in the coming years and calling for a concerted effort to avoid the “epidemic” of silicosis in quartz workers seen in other countries including Australia, Spain and the US.

It’s understood industry giants Howdens will also be among the first tranche of around half a dozen major kitchen retailers committed to the WFF and BOHS kitemark-style scheme.

Kevin Bampton, chief executive of the BOHS, praised The i Paper’s reporting for prompting a scheme he said will “certainly save lives” and help stop cases of accelerated silicosis “sending young men into A&E departments and requiring lung transplants”.

“The scheme enables the supply chain and consumers to choose to buy the products they want, but with the reassurance that their purchase is not also at the expense of someone else’s health,” he said.

“The i Paper’s campaign has been crucial in igniting public interest, galvanizing political action and will hopefully continue to inform consumers so they don’t choose worktops manufactured by firms who fatally exploit their workers.”

It’s hoped the scheme will direct HSE inspectors towards firms putting workers’ lives at risk by not following safety regulations, making an enforcement crackdown easier.

It comes after The i Paper revealed a ban on unsafe cutting of kitchen worktop stone has been introduced for the first time.

Bampton also called on the Government’s newly formed Fair Work Agency – a body responsible for enforcing workers’ rights – to target “illegal working practices within this sector – because it is killing young men and costing the NHS millions”.

And he reiterated demands for a screening programme of stonemasons– a move that was key to detecting the scale of the silicosis problem in Australia’s workforce, the first country in the world to ban engineered stone, where more than a quarter of workers screened with a CT scan were found to have silicosis.

“Wes Streeting needs to back a targeted effort to reach into communities of workers to enable screening to take place to ensure early intervention and prevention to save lives and save massive costs to the NHS,” he added.

Companies signing up to the quality mark scheme will be subject to annual workplace assessments by professionally registered occupational hygienists.

Inspections will be carried out by a registered occupational hygienist who has been trained in engineered stone control.

Firms should avoid using products with a silica content greater than 30 per cent and ensure all workers are trained on the risks of silica dust.

Regular inspections must also be done on the effectiveness of water suppression tools, dust filters and the presence of dust and dried slurry using a signed checklist.

Companies must commit to annual health surveillance by a competent health professional and advertise silicosis screening through the Lungs at Work referral scheme at the Royal Brompton Hospital, where most of the UK’s quartz silicosis patients are being treated.

Worktops cut by companies signed up to the scheme would carry a safety kitemark-style symbol, with a QR code to direct consumers back to the WFF site to confirm the stone was manufactured by a compliant firm.

“We hope that this will help HSE and other agencies to focus on those businesses with no desire to keep their workforce safe, by identifying the businesses who do care and are committed to delivering the right protection,” Bampton said.

He anticipates the scheme will be taken up by all WFF members.

Dr Johanna Feary, a respiratory consultant who treats the UK’s first quartz silicosis patients at the Royal Brompton Hospital, praised the scheme as a “significant step forward for protecting workers’ respiratory health”.

“Schemes like this have the potential not only to reduce future disease, but to identify people at risk earlier, when interventions can still make a meaningful difference,” she said,

Nigel Fletcher, operations officer at the WFF, said the scheme “advances worker safety in the fabrication industry by enforcing control measures, reducing dust exposure and other critical hazards”.

“Only fabricators meeting rigorous standards will be granted permission to display this quality mark,” he said.

Rick Brunt, director of engagement and policy at HSE, said: “We recognise this is an important development by the Worktop Fabricators Federation and the British Occupational Hygiene Society, working together to raise awareness of the risks of silica and helping their members achieve compliance with the principles of good practice for control.”