26/06/2026
Important news: Silica dust safety during worktop production
Recent reports have highlighted the potential health issues related to the production of stone worktops, particularly quartz.
The risk to health only occurs when the stone is being cut and the resulting silica dust is inhaled.
👉𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀’ 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀.👈
All our stone worktops arrive pre-cut from carefully selected suppliers, who have taken, and continue to take, appropriate steps to protect their workforce.
These include:
▪️Adapting their quartz worktop ranges towards lower silica formulations, which release less silica dust when cut.
▪️Automation of cutting processes in fully enclosed system which are water-suppressed to minimise airborne dust. This accounts for approximately 90% of the cutting and machining operations.
▪️“Wet processing” for manual cutting wherever possible, to prevent dust going into the air.
At present we are comfortable that our suppliers are taking sufficient steps to protect their teams and therefore will continue to offer quartz and other natural stone worktops.
However, our range does include many low-silica and silica-free options. Corian, for example, is a zero-silica worksurface that beautifully replicates the benefits of natural stone.
You can read more about the steps our suppliers are taking, and alternative worksurfaces, in our latest article: https://bit.ly/4xFztfk
If you’re concerned about selecting a worktop that looks good and feels ethically sound, our team are here to help. Visit our kitchen showroom or call us on 01959 53 22 33 to find out more.
