How businesses can navigate the HSE’s silica dust crackdown

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s crackdown on engineered stone has moved quickly from guidance to enforcement. In June, the regulator announced that four companies had been ordered to stop working with engineered stone after inspectors found that they lacked the controls needed to protect employees. These were the first prohibition notices issued as part of a nationwide inspection campaign that will involve more than 1,000 visits to businesses.

The implications for businesses are significant. Where inspectors identify a risk of serious personal injury, they can issue a prohibition notice that stops the work immediately. Other failings may result in an improvement notice, which requires changes within a set period. Serious or repeated breaches can lead to prosecution, substantial fines and legal costs. Businesses could also face reputational damage and personal injury claims if workers later develop silica-related illnesses.

The risks extend beyond financial penalties. Cutting, grinding or polishing engineered stone can release respirable crystalline silica, a fine dust that penetrates deep into the lungs. Exposure can cause silicosis, an incurable disease that can be fatal. The dust is often invisible, which means unsafe practices can continue without workers or managers fully appreciating the level of exposure.

In my work with businesses, the same issues regularly appear on the ground. Dust may be swept up rather than removed using appropriate equipment. Masks are sometimes worn inconsistently or have not been properly selected and face-fitted. Small dry cuts may be treated as harmless because they only take a few seconds. In other cases, businesses have equipment and procedures in place, but workers have not been given enough training to understand why the controls matter or how they should be used.

Inspectors are unlikely to look only at what happens while they are present. Businesses may be asked to provide COSHH assessments, training records, face-fit testing, equipment maintenance information and evidence of appropriate health surveillance. A company therefore needs to demonstrate that its controls are embedded in everyday working practices, rather than introduced temporarily ahead of an inspection.

There are two principal ways businesses can respond, and many will need to combine them. The first is to change the processes used when working with engineered stone. The second is to move towards products with a lower silica content.

Changing working practices begins with eliminating dry cutting. The HSE has made clear that dry cutting, grinding and polishing are unacceptable unless a business can demonstrate that it has an equally effective or better method of controlling exposure. Its research found that dry fabrication typically creates respirable silica exposure five to 10 times higher than equivalent wet methods.

Moving to wet cutting affects the entire working process. Businesses need suitable tools, reliable on-tool water suppression and arrangements for controlling the mist and slurry created. These measures may be easier to manage in a controlled workshop than during installation in a customer’s home or on a busy construction site. Businesses need to assess both environments rather than assuming that a process that works in the workshop can be transferred directly to every installation.

Respiratory protective equipment remains important, but it should support other controls rather than replacing them. Masks must be suitable for the work, properly face-fitted and worn consistently. Equipment must also be maintained, while workers need practical training on when and how it should be used.

If the procedures are uncomfortable, impractical or poorly understood, employees are more likely to fall back into previous habits when work becomes busy.

The second approach is to consider lower-silica alternatives. The HSE has found that lower-content engineered stone is available at a comparable quality, meaning businesses have an opportunity to reduce the underlying hazard as well as improve their working methods.

Lower-silica products should not, however, be treated as risk-free. Any process that creates respirable dust still requires suitable controls. Businesses also need to consider availability, lead times, performance, warranties, customer preferences and whether the alternative is appropriate for its intended use. Material choice and working methods therefore need to be assessed together.

For smaller businesses, both routes may require difficult commercial decisions. New equipment, technical advice and alternative materials can add costs at a time when margins are already tight. However, the recent prohibition notices demonstrate that delaying action can carry a much greater cost.

A business may lose the ability to continue work immediately, while also facing the expense of rectifying its processes under regulatory scrutiny. Businesses should treat the HSE campaign as a managed operational transition rather than a short-term compliance exercise. That means reviewing materials, working methods, training and records before an inspector arrives.

The regulator has shown it is prepared to stop unsafe work, and companies now need to demonstrate that the controls described in their policies are being followed in practice.

Jon Williams is director of health and safety at NFP (an Aon company)