“On the 11th May 2026, the Health and Safety executive (HSE) issued landmark guidance and a package of measures to help protect workers from the dangers of engineered stone dust, such as silicosis. Silicosis is a preventable lung disease, that can be deadly and is contracted by exposure to silica dust generated during stone cutting. This guidance makes it clear that all cutting of stone must be done with water suppression techniques in place and that dry cutting of stone is unacceptable.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/st3a.pdf
The guidance will be backed up by nationwide inspections over the next 12 month, with more than 1,000 visits to fabricators planned by HSE inspectors.
The BSIF welcomes this initiative and would remind anyone involved in stone cutting, that if close fitting respiratory protective devices are being used to aid protection to workers, then it is a requirement under CoSHH regulations that all workers have been face-fit tested by a competent face-fit individual. The BSIF administer the Fit2Fit scheme on behalf of the HSE and accredited Fit2Fit Face fit testers can be sourced via the Fit2Fit website – https://www.fit2fit.org/ further support and guidance on Face Fit Testing can also be found via this link.”