I've just had two engineered stone counter tops installed. In both cases (different companies) the fitters came and made a template from thick card of the exact size for the top. the tops arrived and fit precisely. One had to have holes for cut in, but I didn't hang around to see if they fitter used PPE
When I picked out my slab, went to the place where they locally manufactured the countertop to the specs of the kitchen. No one was wearing PPE. Installers just dropped it in and didnt need to do anything.
Due to lack of tech work I've been installing stone countertops. I can confirm we cut on site around half the time, microplastics galore (you can smell the polyester in the air).
Would love to know your opinion on this then - is there any way onsite cutting could be eliminated, semi or fully automated with wet cutting? Or is the onus always on the contractor to use PPE?
I’ve watched a contractor cut holes in a countertop in the field. They did it wet. I’d still wear safety glasses if I were doing this, but IIRC there was no dust.
I’ve never seen someone cut a countertop on site. They do it in a shop. (Why didn’t Australia instead ban all countertop cutting in shops that doesn’t use dustless tools?)
Hmm, I just looked it up. Home Depot sells the tool for under $30.
I made an at home modification to our stone counter top when replacing the stove/oven. The new unit was 1/4" too wide. I did the whole tenting and wet cutting, but not nearly wet enough for the obvious reason. I was in full spaceman suit though, as I was sure the amount of water wasn't going to cut it.
I would NOT recommend this to anyone though. At the time, the turn time and expense of having the counter removed, altered at a proper shop, redelivered and installed was prohibitively expensive.
Just because you can’t see the dust doesn’t mean there isn’t dust. Often it’s the tiniest particles that are the most dangerous because they can attach to the walls of the lungs but are too small to then actually be dislodged by, a say, coughing.
The first. Workers tend to be lazy. How many guys do you see all the time using noisy commercial lawn equipment without any sort of hearing or eye protection? Those guys will all be deaf (if lucky) or have severe tinnitus (if unlucky) by 50.
You see it in factories too, where workers will disable safety devices just to save them a tiny amount of movement.
~6 years ago I got new countertops, and while they did the bulk of the cutting in their facility, they did do a few cuts in my front yard, creating a huge cloud of dust. The main parts of the counter arrived ready to assemble, but I think they cut a spanning piece for behind the stove, spanning the counters on either side.
My 8yo son came out to see what was going on, looked at the workers doing the cut without masks, and said "silicosis ain't no joke" and went back inside. I've taught him well.
My exact experience! Got a hole added for water filter tap and I think he didn’t wear PPE. Had I known about this I would have ensured everyone out the house while it was being done.
> people don't wear PPE even though it's simple and easy to do
Maybe we should mandate people wear PPE, but if they decide to flaunt the rules and risk their health for no reason, I just don't really feel all that sympathetic.
In my experience in Poland you leave the stuff that has to fit in the countertop at the stonemason's workshop and they measure/test fit everything there. My guy has a bunch of (perhaps?) old machines that all do the cuts flooded with something that resembles diamond tooling or grinding wheels.
"Safe Work found that while silicosis cases could emerge in several industries, the numbers were "disproportionate" among engineered stone workers. Engineered stone workers also suffered a faster disease progression and were more likely to die from it, the report said."
The last time I speced something like this, they wanted exact measurements and the result arrived in exactly that shape and size. So I think you're right.
I've just had two engineered stone counter tops installed. In both cases (different companies) the fitters came and made a template from thick card of the exact size for the top. the tops arrived and fit precisely. One had to have holes for cut in, but I didn't hang around to see if they fitter used PPE
When I picked out my slab, went to the place where they locally manufactured the countertop to the specs of the kitchen. No one was wearing PPE. Installers just dropped it in and didnt need to do anything.
As far as countertops go, field cuts are rather uncommon. Laser templating works well.
Holes on the other hand tend to be done in the field. But, people don't wear PPE even though it's simple and easy to do.
Due to lack of tech work I've been installing stone countertops. I can confirm we cut on site around half the time, microplastics galore (you can smell the polyester in the air).
Would love to know your opinion on this then - is there any way onsite cutting could be eliminated, semi or fully automated with wet cutting? Or is the onus always on the contractor to use PPE?
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I'd love to hear why. What is the templating process and why is it not better?
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I’ve watched a contractor cut holes in a countertop in the field. They did it wet. I’d still wear safety glasses if I were doing this, but IIRC there was no dust.
I’ve never seen someone cut a countertop on site. They do it in a shop. (Why didn’t Australia instead ban all countertop cutting in shops that doesn’t use dustless tools?)
Hmm, I just looked it up. Home Depot sells the tool for under $30.
I made an at home modification to our stone counter top when replacing the stove/oven. The new unit was 1/4" too wide. I did the whole tenting and wet cutting, but not nearly wet enough for the obvious reason. I was in full spaceman suit though, as I was sure the amount of water wasn't going to cut it.
I would NOT recommend this to anyone though. At the time, the turn time and expense of having the counter removed, altered at a proper shop, redelivered and installed was prohibitively expensive.
Just because you can’t see the dust doesn’t mean there isn’t dust. Often it’s the tiniest particles that are the most dangerous because they can attach to the walls of the lungs but are too small to then actually be dislodged by, a say, coughing.
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>But, people don't wear PPE even though it's simple and easy to do.
are you saying that wearing the PPE is simple and easy to do, or did you mean they don't wear PPE because the job is so simple and easy to do?
The first. Workers tend to be lazy. How many guys do you see all the time using noisy commercial lawn equipment without any sort of hearing or eye protection? Those guys will all be deaf (if lucky) or have severe tinnitus (if unlucky) by 50.
You see it in factories too, where workers will disable safety devices just to save them a tiny amount of movement.
~6 years ago I got new countertops, and while they did the bulk of the cutting in their facility, they did do a few cuts in my front yard, creating a huge cloud of dust. The main parts of the counter arrived ready to assemble, but I think they cut a spanning piece for behind the stove, spanning the counters on either side.
My 8yo son came out to see what was going on, looked at the workers doing the cut without masks, and said "silicosis ain't no joke" and went back inside. I've taught him well.
All the workers clapped and one of them cried.
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I'll take things that never happened for $500, linsomniac
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My exact experience! Got a hole added for water filter tap and I think he didn’t wear PPE. Had I known about this I would have ensured everyone out the house while it was being done.
> people don't wear PPE even though it's simple and easy to do
Maybe we should mandate people wear PPE, but if they decide to flaunt the rules and risk their health for no reason, I just don't really feel all that sympathetic.
In my experience in Poland you leave the stuff that has to fit in the countertop at the stonemason's workshop and they measure/test fit everything there. My guy has a bunch of (perhaps?) old machines that all do the cuts flooded with something that resembles diamond tooling or grinding wheels.
Even if they did cut on site, is that any worse than cutting natural stone?
Yes, per the article.
"Safe Work found that while silicosis cases could emerge in several industries, the numbers were "disproportionate" among engineered stone workers. Engineered stone workers also suffered a faster disease progression and were more likely to die from it, the report said."
The last time I speced something like this, they wanted exact measurements and the result arrived in exactly that shape and size. So I think you're right.
If you mandate that it has to be ordered to fit from the production facility, then yeah it's probably safer.
> If you mandate that it has to be ordered to fit from the production facility, then yeah it's probably safer.
A mandate isn't really necessary. Everyone involved has every incentive to cut stone in a shop rather than in the field.
The problem is people don't wear PPE. Guess what? Everyone already has a mandate to wear PPE.
Sometimes you can't fix stupid.