As a Work Health and Safety Officer in Australia, we’d like to update all builders, renovators, fabricators or any sector professionals involved with construction as we approach 1 July 2024 – the effective date for Australia’s national prohibition on the use, supply, creation and fitting of engineered stone within Queensland.
Before this law takes effect, you are permitted to continue working with engineered stone under specific controlled conditions. WHS Management Systems that meet legally binding safety standards established by Queensland’s approved codes of practice must be utilised when handling engineered stone, which contains crystalline silica.
Companies are explicitly urged to refrain from entering into new contracts involving engineered stone that may potentially extend beyond the 1st of July 2024, the stipulated commencement date for the ban. In the coming weeks, finer details surrounding the blockade will be finalised by the Work Health and Safety Ministers, including arrangements limited to transitional processes for contracts agreed upon before the prohibition announcement in December 2023.
All businesses should stay updated on developments through the national Safe Work Australia platform. Remember, the use of machinery or power tools such as grinders, drills, cutters, polishers, sanders or crushers for stone products creates dust containing Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS). Inhalation of RCS could result in serious health implications including silicosis, a hazardous lung condition. According to the latest research by Safe Work Australia, smaller and more toxic RCS particles produced while processing engineered stone lead to accelerated and severe health risks for workers implicated in engineered stone processing.
The impending restriction extends to the usage of all engineered stone products. However, several man-made products infused with crystalline silica like cement and concrete products, bricks, equivalents, porcelain and ceramic items, wall, floor and roof tiles, render, mortar and grout along with plasterboard, will be excluded from this ban.
Nationally consistent exemptions have been planned by Work Health and Safety Ministers for products that can be safely used as supported by evidence.
Engineered stone which has been previously installed will not necessitate removal. Likewise, the ban would not affect minor modifications, repairs, removal, and waste disposal of preinstalled engineered stone. Nevertheless, efficient dust control measures such as Bluesafe SWMS must be implemented when working with installed engineered stone.
For further media enquiries, you can reach us at OIRMedia@oir.qld.gov.au or contact us on 0478 33 22 00.
Original article link: https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/news-and-events/news/2024/engineered-stone-ban-in-effect-from-1-july-2024