Joseph Johnson/Stuff
The days of paper masks are long gone in safety-conscious workshops making engineered stone kitchen and bathroom bench tops, but the legacy of historic dust exposure is causing health problems for workers.
WorkSafe is clamping down on safety standards at businesses making engineered stone bench tops, but there are no plans to ban the popular product.
Engineered stone made from crushed quartz and resin accounts for up to half the New Zealand kitchen and bathroom bench top market, but the fine dust produced during cutting, sanding and polishing contains high levels of silica which causes accelerated silicosis, an incurable and fast developing lung disease.