Health warning issued over kitchen worktop after tradespeople deaths
Posted: Friday, January 10th, 2025
A major safety alert has been issued for a popular kitchen worktop following the "tragic" deaths of two young tradespeople, Daily Record reported. The UK's Health and Safety Watchdog has drawn attention to a deadly lung disease resulting from breathing in toxic silica dust when cutting man-made stone, like quartz, without proper safety measures. This week, it issued new advice for those who regularly come into contact with the substance. Cutting engineered stone slabs—which are hugely popular with homeowners who are snapping them up more and more as part of their home refurbs—can shred lungs and, when inhaled, lead to an aggressive form of silicosis. Dad-of-three Marek Marzec died in November at a London hospital, where he was receiving end-of-life care for the deadly lung disease. The worker was informed he had just weeks to live after developing the disease brought on by years of cutting kitchen worktops. The 48-year-old had been too ill to undergo a potentially lifesaving lung transplant. He called the dust "lethal" and complained of "appalling" work conditions that led him to his deathbed. Marzec's death followed that of Wessam al Jundi, 28, who died in hospital in May while waiting for a lung transplant in what is believed to be the first confirmed death from silicosis in a UK-engineered stone worker.
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