Episode 77: Engineered Stone & Silica - Part 1

3M Science of Safety

In this episode, Carolyn Topping, Acting Director of the Occupational Health and Hygiene Unit within Workplace Health and Safety Queensland joins host Mark Reggers for the first of a two-part series to discuss engineered stone and silica. In recent years there has been much discussion surrounding engineered stone benchtops causing a resurgence in silicosis, a fatal and life-debilitating lung disease, amongst workers in the benchtop manufacturing, finishing and installation industries. Silica, one of the most common minerals on the planet found in both engineered and natural stone is an occupational hazard for those working with stone countertops due to their exposure to large volumes of toxic airborne silica.