Even before the Dust Kills campaign by the Health & Safety Executive focussing on dust on building sites comes to an end on 13 July, another has started focussing on manufacturers.

Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors have begun a targeted inspection initiative focusing on manufacturing businesses where materials that contain silica are used. It is not particularly focussing on stone fabricators, but they are not excluded. Brick and tile manufacturers, and foundries will also be visited.

Exposure to airborne particles of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) can lead to life-changing respiratory conditions such as silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.

Crystalline silica is found in most stones, rocks, sand, and clay. Airborne particles are produced during many manufacturing tasks involving these materials. Over time, exposure to silica particles can impair a person’s ability to breathe and cause irreversible, often eventually fatal, lung diseases.

The manufacturer inspections, which started on Monday 3 July, are checking that employers and employees know the risks involved when dealing with RCS and that businesses have control measures in place to protect workers’ respiratory health.

The initiative is supported by HSE’s Dust Kills campaign. There is straight forward advice and guidance on the Work Right website for employers and employees, to help everyone understand the risks and how to protect respiratory health when processing materials that contain crystalline silica.

Employers have a legal duty to create suitable arrangements to manage health & safety and ensure they comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH).

Inspectors will be looking for evidence that businesses have put in place effective control measures, such as dust extraction (LEV) and, where appropriate, use of water suppression and personal protective equipment such as masks (RPE) to reduce people’s exposure to RCS.

HSE warns that if any health & safety breaches are discovered it will take enforcement action.

David Butter, HSE’s head of manufacturing, says: “During the 2022 silica initiative inspection, findings indicated poor management of control measures, including engineering controls, cleaning and housekeeping, and RPE management. Employers should ensure control measures are used and maintained appropriately.

“We want employers and workers to make sure they are aware of the risks associated with the activities they do. To assist them we have advice and free resources on our Dust Kills campaign pages.”

The advice includes an employer's guide called Controlling exposure to stone dust. You can download a PDF version of it below.

The entrance to Staffordshire’s National Memorial Arboretum has a new feature – a sculpture by local artist Graeme Mitcheson in granite from Tarmac’s Mountsorrel Quarry, near Loughborough, in Leicestershire.

There are several examples of Graeme's work at the National Memorial Arboretum as well as many other public sites across the UK. 

The latest piece was added as part of the Arboretum’s contribution to The Queen’s Green Canopy – a tree planting initiative designed to honour the late monarch.

The nationwide initiative concluded in March. It saw more than 3million trees planted across the UK, including 28 along the entrance to the arboretum.

The 9-tonne block of granite includes 40 stainless steel elm, oak, and lime leaves, representing the trees planted in the arboretum’s contribution to The Queen’s Green Canopy.

As operators of Alrewas Quarry adjacent to the arboretum site, Tarmac has enjoyed a close relationship with the National Memorial Arboretum ever since it agreed to lease the land for the creation of the UK’s equivalent of America’s Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the uniformed services for a ‘peppercorn rent’ in 1994.

The 150-acre site has since evolved into an inspirational landscape, home to more than 400 memorials dedicated to the armed forces, emergency services, and voluntary organisations that serve the country.

Philippa Rawlinson, director of the National Memorial Arboretum, says: “As our patron, Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was gracious and unwavering in her support for the arboretum over many years.

“It is wonderful that we were able to complete our contribution to The Queen’s Green Canopy at the arboretum on what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 97th birthday [21 April], as a celebration of her lifelong commitment to service.”

Nick Atkins, strategic planning manager (Central) for Tarmac, says: “We’re proud to continue our support for the National Memorial Arboretum and its ongoing work in nurturing a space which celebrates lives lived and commemorates lives lost.

“It is an honour to have been able to donate this piece of granite to mark the arboretum’s contribution to The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative.

“What a striking new addition to the arboretum! And a truly fitting tribute to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

Hard on the heels of the Chelsea Flower Show, Welsh Slate and Breedon Special Aggregates are supplying celebrated garden designer Paul Hervey-Brookes with materials for his latest garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, open 4-9 July.

The Cancer Research UK Legacy garden has varying levels and is mostly hidden from the outside. Discovery happens when you step inside – stream inlets lead to a central body of water with an isolated jetty – a metaphor for the fear and loneliness cancer can bring – but facing the ‘Pledge Pavilion’, which symbolises hope and carries the message that, though the journey is difficult, it does not have to be made alone.

Welsh Slate and its parent company, Breedon, are supplying various landscaping materials to Paul’s Cancer Research UK Legacy garden at the show.

The garden reflects the hope and optimism brought about by gifts in wills, encouraging reflection, conversation, and connection in a tranquil woodland.

The Welsh Slate products are 15 boulders, 250mm x 500mm Penrhyn Riven paving, four glacial boulders, sliced glacial boulders, slate feature stones, rockery stone, and 40mm and 20mm Penrhyn Blue chippings.

From Breedon come 100mm concrete blocks from the group’s Wickwar site, various sized cobbles for the ‘river’ from the Wangford quarry, and Breedon Golden Amber self-binding gravel from Breedon quarry.

Paul’s garden at Hampton Court is being built by GK Wilson Landscapes, who also constructed his RBC Brewin Dolphin Garden at Chelsea Flower Show earlier this year.

Breedon is also supplying its Breedon Golden Amber self-binding gravel and MOT Type 1 sub-base to BBC Morning Live’s resident gardener, Mark Lane, who is creating the accessible RHS-BBC Morning Live garden at Hampton Court. This is being built by Augustine John Developments.

The next round of applications for up to £18,000 a time from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) opens on 10 July. The money is to enable you to continue to develop your craft skills. You have until 14 August to apply.

Since it was created in 1990, QEST has awarded £5.5million to 800 individuals in more than 130 different crafts, including stonemasonry and stone carving. A directory of all those who have received scholarships can be seen on the QEST website (www.qest.org.uk) along with more details on how to apply.

In addition to QEST’s Scholarship and Apprenticeship funding, it has this summer launched an Emerging Maker Grant. This is to support talented early-career craftspeople through the launch of their businesses. Craftspeople that have set themselves up in business in the previous four years can apply for up to £10,000.

The funding specifically supports training and education, enabling you to enhance your craft skills and advance your career. The training can take many forms, from traditional college courses to vocational one-on-one training with a master craftsperson or a bespoke programme of short courses.

QEST is running three ‘How To’ sessions on Zoom to introduce those interested in applying for the grants to the different funding available, with tips and advice for filling in your application. There will be opportunities for a Q&As. The first on how to apply for a Scholarship is 12 July, 1-2pm. Click here to register.

On 18 July is a webinar on how to apply for an Apprenticeship. To register for that click here. And on 20 July is a presentation about how to apply for an Emerging Markers Grant – register here.

For more details on the funding opportunities available see: www.qest.org.uk/apply

Italian surface specialist Santamargherita has launched Surfalite, a 7mm material in slabs of 3300 x 1650mm for wet wall applications.

This lightweight, low maintenance surface is said to be resistant to mould and mildew and, therefore, ideal for use in bathrooms and shower rooms.

Taking inspiration from natural stone, there are 16 designs spanning a monochrome spectrum, including Nero (black), Carnia (dark grey) and Vittoria White. 

Santamargherita's Vice President of Sales, Michele Caneva, says: "We have been working on creating the surface of the future, and market research is showing that consumers prefer the look and feel of engineered stone slabs and porcelain for wet wall applications." 

Now in its second year, the Stone & Vision Awards is a photography competition that aims to promote discussion about stone and terrazzo in the built environment. It is run by In Opera Group, which specialises in materials including natural stone and marble.

This competition invited architects, architecture students and interior designers to submit photos of built projects that depict stone or terrazzo in commercial spaces, public or private landscapes or private buildings.

The shortlisted images went on display at The Building Centre in Store Street, London, from Monday 26 June and will be there until 7 July. The winners were announced on Thursday 29 June. To see the winners and the shortlisted entries click here. 

It might sound like the title of a science fiction novel but this is the cutting edge of the stone industry in the 21st century at Planet Granite near Coventry.

In a room that wouldn’t look out of place at the Kennedy Space Center, Steve Murphy, of Planet Granite and the new company Planet Sculpture, and his 17-year-old son, Stevie, look out of long windows on either side into workshops where three hefty ABB robots (that they have named Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo) are shaping stone.

The workshops that house the robots were put up by Steve and Stevie during the Covid restrictions. The control room houses the almost floor-to-ceiling supercomputers that run the robots and isolates the computers and the operators from the work areas.

Steve Murphy is impressed with the way his son has mastered the programs that run the robots – so impressed that he nominated him for an Emerging Talent Award at the Natural Stone Show, which took place at ExCeL London, 6-8 June. Stevie was one of the 10 winners of the Award.

Planet Granite exhibited at the exhibition to explain the capabilities of the robots. Terzago Robotics also exhibited at the Natural Stone Show.

Both Steve and Stevie went to Terzago in Italy for instruction on how to program the robots, although they have had to hone the process of putting it into practice by learning as they go in the Planet Granite workshops.

Stevie started studying engineering at the MTC college in Coventry after leaving school  but found the pace pedestrian after what he had learnt at Planet Granite, so he has quit to work full time in the family business.

One of the first major stone projects they attempted was cutting the bigger than life-size Batman pictured above into a block of granite that had stood for years outside the Planet Granite showroom a few hundred metres from the workshops. A natural fissure in the stone has left Batman with a dramatic gaping wound in his arm.

The finished sculpture was at the Natural Stone Show and afterwards was put back in front of Planet Granite’s new showroom. More drama has been added by a 100,000 lumin torch shining the Bat sign into the sky at night in the same way as the authorities of Gotham City call Batman when they need his help.

The robots previously belonged to J Rotherham in Yorkshire, which went into administration in 2020. The Administrator was going to be charged for storing the robots and was keen to avoid that expense. As a result, Planet Granite obtained four robots and all the tooling for significantly less than the tooling alone would have cost to buy new. The robots are now being operated as a separate company called Planet Sculpture.

Three of the robots are housed in the workshops either side of the control room, while the fourth is a saw jet on a 10m run – the same saw jet that had been shown at the MarmoMac exhibition in Verona, Italy, with a price tag of €1million. Named Scarlet after Steve’s daughter, it is housed in the workshop next door.

“Rotherham paid £4.7million for all this,” says Steve in his new workshops. “I saw the receipts.” In comparison, he considers the price he paid was a bargain.

Computer-controlled machinery needs to be programmed digitally and the most direct way of gathering digital data from existing objects is to scan them – as many worktop companies have discovered with wire or laser digital templaters.

Most of Planet Granite’s business is worktops – and it will continue to be because the robots come under a separate company called Planet Sculpture.

Customers of the robots will be different from those on the worktop side of the business, probably involving artists and designers looking for something made especially for them. To capture digital information for the robots, Steve has a high definition 3D scanner. They cost £35,000 each, but enable 3D scans of solid objects to be transferred to code so the robots can produce a sculpture of the object.

Steve admits there was a fairly steep two-year learning curve to program and use the robots and is grateful to Stevie, his son, for his contribution. “Once he had left college, within six weeks he had sorted everything out here, mostly teaching himself. He’s not a computer geek but he’s good at maths and was interested in physics at school. He ripped everything out and built the control centre. I had had two years of despair. I made mistake after mistake after mistake.”

Taking a punt

Steve admits buying the kit was a punt because although he has CNC machinery, including a waterjet, at Planet Granite, he did not know how to use robots and was not oblivious of the difficulties some people had found with them. “When I bought this kit everyone said I was mad,” he admits.

Initially he had put in a bid for just one of the robots. “I thought maybe I could handle that.” But the Administrator was keen to clear all the robots out to avoid the cost of storing them and accepted what Steve offered for the lot, including nearly £1million-worth of tools.

Steve did not know how he was going to use the robots but felt the technology was sufficiently advanced and interesting to give him an advantage.

Asked now what his customer base is going to be he is frank: “I have no idea.” Which is why he is exhibiting at the Natural Stone Show in London and has also employed a company to make 15-minute podcasts for him to promote the business.

But he is so impressed with what the robots can achieve he believes customers will emerge, on the basis of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s principle that if you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door to buy it.

In the meantime, he has also been building a new showroom, with more examples of how stone can be used for interiors and a display he designed himself for showing whole slabs of materials to help customers visualise what their homes will look like with it, which is difficult with 50mm square samples. Planet Granite likes people to visit the showroom because when they do they generally become customers.

The showroom is on two floors, joined by a spiral staircase, which demonstrates another aspect of Planet Granite’s skills. And in one of many examples of attention to every detail, it has a banister that is connected to the steps using a fastener engraved with the name of Planet Granite.

Luke Conlon of Cotswold Natural Stone wants to elevate the status of the stone he sells and is doing so by re-branding and opening a one-acre stone centre with a Stone Gallery in Scrubbs Lane, Shilton in Oxfordshire, near the company's quarry.

The Natural Stone Gallery was opened with three days of celebrations on 20-22 June. 

The site shows different styles of building stone and stone walling outside, with landscaping that uses stones from the quarry, including a bridge, and various sculptures by local artists, which are also for sale. 

Inside the gallery there is stone flooring, fireplaces, and furniture, using Cotswold Natural Stone's and other British and European stones.

The low carbon footprint of natural stone is emphasised with a commitment to achieving Net Zero on the wall of the Gallery outside.