Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Health and Safety Executive’s enforcement powers in relation to employers exposing workers to respirable crystalline silica dust during the cutting of engineered stone products.

Great Britain has a robust and well-established regulatory framework to protect workers from health risks arising from exposure to hazardous substances, including respirable crystalline silica under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. The right controls, including water suppression of dust and mist control, appropriate respiratory protective equipment and effective ventilation, can prevent exposure to respirable crystalline silica when processing engineered stone products. Health and Safety Executive inspectors are using existing enforcement powers including serving both improvement notices and prohibition notices to secure the measures necessary to protect workers at risk from exposure.