Dry Cutting Stone on UK Construction Sites: What the New HSE Guidance Means for Your Business

AI generated image of wet stone cutting

If you work with engineered stone — cutting kitchen worktops, bathroom surfaces, or similar materials — the regulatory landscape just changed significantly.

On 11 May 2026, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued its most far-reaching intervention in the sector to date, and the message couldn’t be clearer: dry cutting of engineered stone must stop.

Why Now? The Human Cost Behind the Guidance

The tragic deaths of two young workers made headlines and galvanised calls for action from MPs, trade unions, and medical professionals.  These weren’t isolated incidents. Over 50 quartz stonemasons in the UK — primarily young workers in their twenties and thirties — have been diagnosed with silicosis since early 2023. 

What makes engineered stone particularly dangerous is the speed at which it can cause harm. Unlike natural stone, where silica-related disease typically takes decades to develop, recent cases suggest that exposure to engineered stone dust can cause silicosis in a matter of months or years. Workers can suffer permanent and irreversible lung damage before experiencing any symptoms. By the time symptoms appear, it may be too late. 

Silicosis is caused by breathing in respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust released during the cutting and fabrication of engineered stone — a material widely used in kitchen and bathroom worktops that can contain up to 95% crystalline silica. When cut, drilled or polished, it generates RCS dust that is fine enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and is invisible to the naked eye. 

Across all industries, silicosis is responsible for around 500 deaths a year in the UK. 

What the New HSE Guidance Says

The HSE has published its first-ever COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) guidance sheet specifically for engineered stone.  This is a landmark document. Previous COSHH guidance was generic; this one is sector-specific and sets out unambiguous legal requirements.

The guidance sets out in plain English what employers must do:

• Switch to engineered stone with a low silica content

• Use on-tool water suppression and control mist

• Provide appropriate respiratory protective equipment (RPE)

• Carry out regular health surveillance

These are legal requirements. 

HSE is also working with manufacturers, suppliers and importers to encourage the supply of lower-silica engineered stone products, which research indicates are a viable alternative to high-silica materials. Manufacturers have a legal duty under Section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to provide adequate information about the risks associated with their products and the controls required to work with them safely. 

The Legal Framework: COSHH and Beyond

This guidance doesn’t create new law — the legal duties have existed for years under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. What the new guidance does is crystallise exactly what compliance looks like in practice for engineered stone specifically.

The guidance provides a benchmark against which the courts are likely to assess breach of duty in personal injury proceedings. An employer who has not implemented the controls described in the guidance may find it difficult to rebut allegations of negligence. 

In short: if an inspector visits your site and finds dry cutting taking place, you will not be able to claim you didn’t know what was required of you.

The Inspection Crackdown: 1,000+ Visits Planned

The guidance is backed by serious enforcement muscle. Over the next 12 months, HSE inspectors will conduct more than 1,000 visits to fabricators across Great Britain, with enforcement action taken against those failing to meet the required standards. The first inspections are already underway. 

The nationwide inspection programme commenced in May 2026 and will run through the 2026/27 period.  The inspection campaign forms part of HSE’s wider programme of work running through 2026 to 2027, which includes continued engagement with employers and trade bodies to drive compliance and raise awareness of legal duties. 

HSE Deputy Director Mike Calcutt was unequivocal: “Silicosis is incurable, but it is entirely preventable. No worker should lose their life”  to a disease that proper controls can eliminate.

Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, added: “This new guidance gives businesses clear, unambiguous instructions on what the law requires, and this spring and summer HSE will carry out more than 1,000 inspections across the industry to make sure those standards are enforced, and the lives of workers protected.” 

When both the regulator and a government minister issue statements of this kind in the same week, enforcement action is not a distant possibility — it is imminent.

How Does the UK Compare Internationally?

The UK has taken a deliberate middle path compared to other jurisdictions. Australia banned engineered stone outright in 2024 after a wave of silicosis cases among young fabricators. California’s Silicosis Training, Outreach and Prevention (STOP) Act took effect in January 2026, prohibiting dry cutting, mandating shop certification, and authorising inspectors to shut down operations on the spot. The UK has chosen a different path: keep the material, ban the practice. 

Whether that approach proves sufficient will depend largely on how robustly the 1,000-inspection programme is enforced.

What Employers Must Do Right Now

If your business involves cutting, drilling, or polishing engineered stone, you need to act immediately. Here is a practical checklist:

1. Stop all dry cutting. This is the non-negotiable baseline. No exceptions without documented evidence of an equally effective alternative control.

2. Switch to low-silica engineered stone. HSE’s research confirms lower-silica products are commercially available and perform comparably.

3. Install on-tool water suppression. Wet cutting is the standard that the guidance enshrines in law. Review your equipment and upgrade where necessary.

4. Issue and enforce RPE. Appropriate respiratory protective equipment must be provided and actually worn — not just available.

5. Set up health surveillance. Regular lung health checks for workers exposed to stone dust are a legal requirement, not optional goodwill.

6. Review your COSHH assessments. Update your risk assessments to reflect the new guidance specifically. Generic dust assessments are no longer adequate.

7. Train your team. Workers need to understand the risks and know what controls are in place. Document this training.

The Bottom Line

The HSE has described dry cutting of engineered stone as “unacceptable” and illegal.  Two years of research and industry engagement have led to this point, and the sector can no longer claim the risks are uncertain or the solutions unavailable.

For any business working with engineered stone, the cost of non-compliance — in human lives, in enforcement action, and in civil liability — far outweighs the cost of switching to wet cutting and compliant controls. The inspectors are already on the road.

For further information, visit hse.gov.uk or call the HSE helpline on 0300 003 1647. If you have concerns about your own health following exposure to stone dust, seek medical advice promptly.

This article has partly been written using AI and partly using research from the HSE website and elsewhere.