Quick answer: In May 2026, HSE launched a nationwide inspection programme of more than 1,000 visits to fabricators and contractors working with engineered stone and silica-generating materials across Great Britain. Dry cutting of engineered stone is now explicitly unacceptable under HSE guidance. Four companies were served with Prohibition Notices in the first weeks of the programme. For construction contractors, stone fabricators, kitchen and bathroom installers and groundworkers, this is not an awareness campaign — it is active enforcement. H-Class extraction is the mandatory specification for engineered stone work and other RCS-generating tasks. Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices are being issued.
HSE's approach to silica dust has shifted decisively from guidance and awareness to proactive enforcement. The May 2026 announcement of a nationwide inspection programme — covering more than 1,000 visits to businesses working with engineered stone and other silica-generating materials — represents the most significant regulatory intervention in this area to date. The first enforcement actions followed within weeks, with four businesses served with Prohibition Notices requiring immediate cessation of work.
For construction contractors, stone fabricators, kitchen and bathroom worktop installers, groundworkers, and anyone using cutting, grinding, drilling or polishing equipment on silica-containing materials, this inspection programme is directly relevant to how you operate right now.
Why engineered stone is the focus
Engineered stone — the artificial stone used for kitchen and bathroom worktops, typically branded as quartz stone — can contain up to 95% crystalline silica. This is significantly higher than natural stone materials. Critically, unlike natural stone where silica-related disease typically takes decades to develop, exposure to engineered stone dust can cause accelerated silicosis in months or years. Workers can suffer permanent, irreversible lung damage before experiencing any symptoms.
International concern has been building. Australia banned engineered stone nationally in July 2024, extending that ban to importation in January 2025. California introduced stricter exposure controls. The UK's HSE response — 1,000+ inspections with active enforcement — follows that international trajectory.
What HSE has said — and done
On 11 May 2026, HSE published the first COSHH guidance sheet specifically for engineered stone and announced the nationwide inspection programme. The guidance makes two things explicit:
- Dry cutting of engineered stone is unacceptable. It is not a technique to be risk-assessed and managed — it is prohibited in practice because it generates RCS concentrations that cannot be controlled to within the Workplace Exposure Limit by any realistic control measure.
- H-Class extraction is the required standard. Wet cutting reduces airborne RCS during the cutting process, but does not eliminate it — and produces silica-laden slurry that must be removed before it dries. H-Class vacuum extraction is required for both dry and wet cutting clean-up, and for all surface preparation work.
By June 2026, four companies had already been issued Prohibition Notices: Creative Quartz Ltd (Worcester), Mr Granite Ltd (Coventry), Surfacestone (UK) Ltd (Oldbury) and Italia Stone Ltd (Bedford). Additional notices were served on Stone Affairs Ltd, Pyramid Granite Ltd and Marble & Granite Designs Ltd. These are not warnings — Prohibition Notices require immediate cessation of the relevant work activity until compliant controls are in place.
What inspectors are looking for
Based on current enforcement activity, HSE inspectors are assessing whether businesses:
- Have adequately assessed the risk from RCS exposure — a COSHH assessment that does not specifically address engineered stone silica is not adequate
- Have implemented suitable control measures — wet cutting is the minimum; H-Class LEV extraction is required for clean-up and surface prep
- Maintain extraction systems — LEV equipment under COSHH Regulation 9 must be examined and tested at least every 14 months with records kept for 5 years
- Provide appropriate RPE — face-fit tested for each individual wearer, not a generic requirement
- Carry out health surveillance — required for workers regularly exposed to RCS
Improvement Notices are issued where controls are inadequate. Prohibition Notices are issued where there is an immediate risk — stopping all relevant work until compliance is demonstrated. Both carry the risk of prosecution if not complied with.
This is not just an engineered stone issue
While the May 2026 announcement focuses specifically on engineered stone fabricators, the wider silica enforcement message applies across the construction industry. Silica dust is generated by many everyday construction tasks — cutting paving slabs, chasing brickwork, drilling concrete, grinding mortar, using powered tools on stone-based materials. RCS is a hazard wherever silica-containing materials are cut, ground, drilled or polished.
The HSE message is clear: dust control cannot be an afterthought. On-tool extraction, wet suppression and H-Class clean-up are the control package — not a choice between them.
V-TUF H-Class extraction for RCS work
H-Class extraction is the mandatory specification for all engineered stone work and for clean-up after RCS-generating tasks on any silica-containing material. The GRINDEX H-Class range is purpose-built for industrial dust extraction in stone fabrication and construction environments.
View the full GRINDEX H-Class range → Silica and RCS — the complete COSHH control guide → H-Class extraction — when it is required and why →
Related guidance
Silica dust on construction sites: what the regulations actually require →
Concrete cutting and grinding on live sites: dust control and COSHH compliance →
M-Class or H-Class: why it depends on what the building is made of →
COSHH Regulations 2002 →
Construction hub →
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