Silica Rules for Trade Businesses After the Engineered Stone Ban

What changed

Australia banned work involving the manufacture, supply, processing, and installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels, and slabs from 1 July 2024.

From 1 January 2025, engineered stone benchtops, panels, and slabs also became prohibited imports.

Safe Work Australia also notes that from 1 September 2024, model WHS Regulation amendments strengthened the regulation of work with materials containing at least 1% crystalline silica across industries.

For trade businesses, the lesson is bigger than engineered stone. The material itself can change the compliance status of the whole job.

What the ban applies to

Safe Work Australia describes engineered stone as an artificial product that contains at least 1% crystalline silica by weight, is created by combining natural stone materials with other constituents such as water, resins, or pigments, and becomes hardened.

The ban is focused on engineered stone benchtops, panels, and slabs.

Safe Work Australia identifies several exclusions from the engineered stone definition, including concrete and cement products, bricks and pavers, ceramic wall and floor tiles, sintered stone where it does not contain resin, porcelain products where they do not contain resin, roof tiles, grout, mortar, render, and plasterboard.

That does not mean those materials have no dust risk. It just means they are not part of the banned engineered stone category.

Legacy engineered stone is not business as usual

Many homes and commercial spaces still contain previously installed engineered stone.

Work involving legacy engineered stone may still occur in limited situations such as removal, repair, minor modification, or disposal, but the details vary by jurisdiction and the work may require controlled processing, notification, or other regulator-specific steps.

This is where small businesses get caught. A job can look ordinary until the material turns it into a different compliance workflow.

Why this matters beyond stone benchtops

Respirable crystalline silica can be generated by cutting, grinding, drilling, polishing, or crushing materials that contain crystalline silica.

That means silica risk can affect more than stonemasons. Builders, tilers, bathroom renovators, demolition crews, landscapers, and other trades may encounter silica-containing materials depending on the job.

The useful question is simple: what material are we disturbing, and what controls does that trigger?

What to track on a silica-risk job

A useful job record should make these points visible:

• the material being worked on
• whether engineered stone may be involved
• whether the work is permitted in the jurisdiction
• which dust controls are required
• whether notification, permits, air monitoring, or health monitoring are relevant
• which workers are trained and briefed
• what evidence shows the controls were used

The record should live with the job, not in a generic safety folder nobody checks.

Why templates go stale

Silica is a good example of why static templates can become risky.

A SWMS, quote template, or renovation checklist created before July 2024 may not reflect the engineered stone ban. A template created before September 2024 may not reflect the broader crystalline silica amendments. A job copied from last year may carry outdated assumptions into a new legal environment.

Compliance tracking is partly about dates. It is also about noticing when the rules under the work changed. That is why a static template, no matter how tidy it looks, eventually becomes a liability.

Disclaimer: This guide is general information only and is not legal, safety, or occupational hygiene advice. Silica and engineered stone requirements vary by jurisdiction and work type. Confirm current obligations with Safe Work Australia guidance, your state or territory WHS regulator, and qualified safety or occupational hygiene advisers.