As a responsible employer, we have been aware of the dangers of silicosis for many years, and the safety of our workers, clients and end-users has always been of paramount importance to us. Recent national news coverage has brought the increase of artificial-stone induced silicosis to the attention of design firms and homeowners, and many people are now concerned about the materials being used in their projects.
The danger comes from the dust created when a stone, quartz or other man-made material is cut and processed. Stone fabrication workshops that adhere to health & safety regulations and HSE’s advice, that are well-managed and well-run, are safe places to work for fabricators. Once installed, worktops made from stone, quartz and other man-made materials do not impose any threat of silicosis.
The health & safety standards upheld at Classico are high and we would like to think the best in the industry. We have been following IOSH guidance on silica dust for many years to ensure we provide a workplace with a low risk of exposure. Among the safety measures we employ to protect our stonemasons, we always use wet cutting to suppress dust, our workshops have ventilation to extract dust, our team members all wear PPE including respirator masks and we hold regular toolbox training sessions to supplement the in-depth training each stone mason and operator receives annually.
You are welcome to see our high standards first-hand by booking a tour of our workshops. If you are a professional specifier or a kitchen designer, you are welcome to have a tour with or without your clients.
As always, we provide a fabrication service that is of the highest standard of safety and using the best materials, whether that is natural stone or man-made.
Slabs of natural stone waiting to be processed in our factory
In addition, at Classico, we have always campaigned for independently and highly certified man-made materials, at times losing out on projects because we will not use man-made materials whose composition and certification we do not have confidence in.
The man-made materials we use from Stone Italiana are safe for both professional specifiers, their businesses, their clients, the end-users, home-owners and for us and our workers. You can see the NSF certification here to prove this and the many certifications in their Certifications document here. Stone Italiana’s CMT and Cosmolite materials all have a low silica content level of below 35% and 25% respectively, and their new Cosmolite Supernova collection has an incredibly low maximum silica content level of 5% (to give some context to this, quartz can have up to 97% silica content, granite between 20 and 45%, and marble 2 to 3%).
On top of this, all of Stone Italiana’s CMT and Cosmolite ranges have zero quartz content, are low VOC, 100% recycled and fully supported by carbon footprint and EPD documentation. You can download all the documentation in English from their UK distributor here.
Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have and as always, send through all requests for quotes to us on estimates@classicomarble.co.uk
Read more about why certified materials are important in our blog here
