$2.5 million to enforce engineered stone ban after inspections reveal worksite issues

Additional work safety inspectors will be hired to enforce an imminent ban on engineered stone after a six-month blitz of NSW businesses whose workers may be inhaling dangerous dust revealed compliance concerns.

SafeWork NSW issued 142 notices, ranging from warnings to fines, across 176 visits to construction and tunnelling businesses during a visit program that ended in March.

Engineered stone, commonly used in kitchen benchtops and bathrooms, will be banned next month.Credit: Eddie Jim

A national ban on the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone, which is used to create shiny kitchen benchtops and bathroom vanities as a lower-cost alternative to marble and granite, will begin on July 1.

The world-first ban is in response to a growing number of cases of silicosis, a preventable, work-related lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust, among those working with the material.

Engineered stone can contain up to 95 per cent crystalline silica, which produces toxic silica dust when cut, ground, or drilled.

A 2023 Safe Work Australia report, commissioned after a joint investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes, revealed an increase in silicosis cases among workers, found there was no safe level of the dust emitted when engineered stone slabs were cut, and recommended the ban.

However, while working with engineered stone is the primary cause of silicosis, lower-level exposure can also occur when working with other building materials, such as bricks and tiles. The recent NSW inspection program was designed to remind businesses not affected by the ban of their obligations to also protect workers from dust.

SafeWork inspectors can issue stop-work notices for activities that generate high levels of dust or for inadequate dust control measures. Employers who fail to comply with a notice face a maximum penalty of $130,000.

With the ban on engineered stone beginning in under two weeks, the NSW government’s 2024–25 budget will contain an additional $2.5 million for compliance measures.

The extra cash will fund additional inspections of stone fabricators and construction sites, as well as educational programs for industries and new notification systems for businesses doing processing work on existing engineered stone in homes and workplaces, as will be permitted under the new rules.

NSW has previously announced it would spend $5 million on silicosis research and a patient support program for individuals and their families navigating health risks associated with silica dust exposure.

Last year, the Minns government passed laws to create a Silica Worker Register, tracking workers potentially exposed to the harmful dust.

NSW Work Health and Safety Minister Sophie Cotsis said the budget funding would ensure the ban and new compliance regime were actually effective at saving lives, stressing that silicosis was a preventable disease.

“The Minns government is investing in worker safety as a priority because it is a fundamental right of every worker to go to work and come home safely to their loved ones at the end of the day,” she said.

The NSW 2024–25 budget will be handed down on Tuesday.