New HSE guidance published in May 2026 requires kitchen worktop fabricators to stop dry cutting engineered stone and use water suppression instead, following a rise in silicosis cases in the industry. Alongside this, major worktop brands including Caesarstone and Silestone have been rolling out low and no silica ranges throughout the year. An installed worktop is not affected: the risk applies only during cutting and fabrication.

If you have looked into quartz worktops this year, you may have seen headlines about silicosis, new regulations, or even calls for a ban. It has been a significant story across the trade press, in Parliament and in the national news, and it is genuinely reshaping what the major surface brands are bringing to market. It is worth setting out what has actually happened, and what it means if you are choosing a worktop.

What changed in the regulations

In May 2026 the Health and Safety Executive published a major new package of guidance specifically for engineered stone, the artificial worktop material made from crushed quartz and resin that can contain up to 95 per cent crystalline silica. The guidance makes clear that dry cutting of engineered stone is no longer acceptable. Fabricators must use water suppression or on tool extraction whenever the material is cut, drilled or polished, and the HSE has begun a programme of over a thousand fabricator inspections running through 2026 and into 2027 to check compliance.

This followed growing concern, including debate in Parliament, about silicosis, an incurable but entirely preventable lung disease caused by inhaling fine silica dust, with rising case numbers among workers who cut engineered stone for a living.

Is your worktop safe? Yes. This is the part that gets lost in the headlines. The risk sits entirely with the cutting and fabrication process, not with a finished, installed worktop. A quartz surface in your kitchen does not release silica dust in normal daily use. The concern is for the people cutting the slab, which is exactly why the new rules focus on how fabricators work rather than on the material itself once it is in your home.

How the major brands are responding

Quite apart from the regulation, the trade press, particularly KBB Focus and kbbreview, has spent much of 2026 covering a genuine race among the big surface manufacturers to move away from silica altogether, well ahead of anything the law strictly requires.

Caesarstone has led this most visibly with its ICON range, an advanced fusion surface technology that is crystalline silica free, containing less than one per cent, and made using around 85 per cent recycled material, mostly post industrial glass. Caesarstone UK has committed to having its entire product portfolio converted to ICON by the start of 2027, with most of the range already there, and has continued to expand the collection through the year with new colourways, including a set of warmer, nature inspired tones launched for the UK and Ireland market in summer 2026. The company points to Houzz research showing engineered quartz remains the single most popular worktop choice among renovating homeowners, chosen by over 40 per cent, which is part of why it has treated the transition as a priority rather than a niche offer.

Silestone, made by Cosentino, has taken a similar path with its Hybriq+ technology, built on a sustainable manufacturing process using 99 per cent reused water and 100 per cent renewable electricity. Cosentino has said that more than 70 per cent of its slab sales in the first half of 2026 were already low silica or silica free, with a target of around 80 per cent by the end of the year, and has introduced Éclos, a newer zero silica surface brand, alongside continued development of the Silestone XM range.

Other manufacturers are moving the same way. Solid surface and laminate materials such as HIMACS have never contained crystalline silica in the first place, and several other stone brands covered in the trade press this year have reported over half their quartz ranges now sitting in the low or no silica category.

What this means if you are choosing a worktop

Practically speaking, you now have genuine low and no silica options at the premium end of the market that do not compromise on the look or durability people choose quartz for in the first place. If reducing silica exposure for the people making your kitchen matters to you, and for many clients it increasingly does, it is worth asking specifically about it when you are choosing a worktop, rather than assuming all quartz is the same. It is also worth confirming, whoever you buy from, that your fabricator is already working to the new HSE standard as a matter of course rather than in response to an inspection.

We are happy to talk you through the current options from our worktop suppliers, including the newer low silica ranges, as part of any kitchen design.

FAQs

Are quartz worktops dangerous? An installed quartz worktop is safe in normal use and does not release silica dust. The health risk relates only to the dust created during cutting, drilling and polishing, which is why UK regulations introduced in May 2026 focus on fabrication methods rather than the finished product.

What did the HSE change about engineered stone worktops in 2026? In May 2026 the HSE ruled that dry cutting of engineered stone is no longer acceptable, requiring fabricators to use water suppression or on tool extraction, backed by a programme of over 1,000 fabricator inspections running through 2026 and 2027.

Are Caesarstone and Silestone worktops silica free? Caesarstone's ICON range is crystalline silica free, containing less than one per cent, with the whole UK portfolio due to convert by early 2027. Silestone's Hybriq+ technology has moved over 70 per cent of Cosentino's slab sales to low or no silica as of 2026, with a target of around 80 per cent by year end.