An assessment of worker exposure to respirable dust and crystalline silica in workshops fabricating engineered stone.

This article focuses on assessing worker exposure to respirable dust (RD) and respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in engineered stone (ES) fabrication workshops in New South Wales, Australia, following a five-year regulatory awareness and compliance program by SafeWork NSW. The study found that although all 27 workshops used wet fabrication methods, worker exposures to RCS—primarily quartz and cristobalite—remained above the workplace exposure limit (WEL) of 0.05 mg/m³ TWA-8 h, with the highest exposures occurring during pneumatic hand cutting and grinding tasks. Workers operating semiautomated routers and edge polishers had the lowest RCS exposures, indicating that increased automation and wet methods reduce but do not eliminate risk. The findings underscore the continued necessity of respiratory protective equipment and recommend further control measures, including using ES with lower silica content, improved water suppression techniques, and enhanced ventilation, to better protect workers from silicosis risk.