United KingdomUK HSE inspections find serious silica-control failures
The UK Health and Safety Executive has carried out more than 400 inspections of businesses working engineered stone. Focus Piedra reports that roughly four in ten showed very poor standards of protection from respirable crystalline silica.
The campaign focuses on dust control during cutting. HSE regards dry cutting as unacceptable and says it can produce exposures five to ten times those of wet methods for these materials. The wider programme plans more than 1,000 inspections in 2026–2027.
Editorial context
The report primarily concerns high-silica artificial surfaces; its exposure figures should not be transferred automatically to every natural stone. The principle still matters: risk assessment, wet processing, extraction and protection must fit the material and process.
