The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has awarded the first Paul Dockerill Award to Dr Scott McGibbon to develop a new silica safety toolkit, expected to launch in 2026.

This innovative resource aims to protect construction workers, clients, and residents by raising awareness about the dangers of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust, a prevalent but often overlooked risk in the construction industry.

The toolkit, made possible through a £10,000 funding boost from the CIOB, will provide both digital and printable resources to inform and equip users with best practices for working safely with silica. It will cover essential guidelines for minimising exposure to RCS, found in materials like concrete, brick, and cement. Long-term exposure to silica dust can cause debilitating conditions such as silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer, making it the second-highest risk to construction workers after asbestos.

Dr McGibbon, a former stonemason who now leads his own construction consultancy, feels a strong personal commitment to the project, having witnessed colleagues develop severe health issues due to silica exposure. “Despite the risks of silica dust being known for thousands of years, the impact of high exposure is irreversible, and mitigation can be achieved easily,” he said. “I’ve seen the devastating effects of RCS first-hand—on both individuals and their families—and that has driven me to develop this resource.”

The CIOB established the Paul Dockerill Award in memory of its former trustee, who passed away in 2022. Dockerill was a well-regarded figure in construction, known for his passion for building safety, skills development, and resident engagement. This award, launched to support projects in line with Dockerill’s values, provides up to £10,000 for initiatives focusing on innovation and safety in construction.

Bradley Price, director of policy and public affairs at Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis, endorsed the project, highlighting the urgency of raising silica dust awareness. “Too many lives are devastated by silicosis despite it being preventable,” he said. “Many who work with silica dust aren’t fully aware of the dangers it poses. Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis welcomes this initiative to educate and inform. We’re here for everyone affected by pulmonary fibrosis.”

The toolkit will be accessible to a wide audience, including construction professionals, clients, and even residents undertaking DIY projects, equipping them to handle silica safely. By offering expert guidance on preventative measures, it aims to ensure that construction work is carried out with a deeper awareness of potential health risks. 

Penrhyn Quarry Hospital, also known locally as Ysbyty Brynllwyd, was built in Bethesda village in the late 1840s by former quarry owner Colonel Pennant for the rapid treatment of quarrymen injured at work, as well as injured visitors to Snowdonia.

Facilities included three four-bed wards, a surgery, waiting room and nearby mortuary, as many of the quarry accidents were fatal. It was the site of the first successful operation under anaesthetic in north-west Wales – a mid-thigh amputation in 1847.

However, the much-loved hospital closed in the mid-20th Century and all that remains of the Scheduled Monument now are crumbling walls in woodland near the Lôn Las Ogwen cycle track which connects Port Penrhyn to local communities, the slate landscape and mountains beyond.  

Welsh Slate, part of the Breedon Group who currently operate Penrhyn Quarry, have donated a significant number of slate products to aid the conservation work by Recclesia, a contractor experienced in historic building conservation, for Cyngor Gwynedd and Cadw, as part of the Llewyrch o’r Llechi Levelling Up scheme which is funded by the UK Government.

The project includes stabilising and consolidating the deteriorating condition of the standing walls, masonry and pointing mortar, introducing stone copings and flaunching to the wall heads to reduce water ingress, conserving the remaining architectural and historic details within, and managing vegetation growth.

The materials being donated by Welsh Slate were identified by conservation architects Donald Insall Associates during a programme of recording and emergency works involving vegetation clearance and masonry work carried out earlier this year.

The Welsh Slate products include 125m of 400mm x 750mm x 25-30mm wall copings from sharp, palfia or hard block cut to size and hand split to protect the exposed wall heads, and 50 2000mm x 200mm x 250mm lintels with natural jointing/riven faces from quarry pillars to support the openings.

Barry O’Connor, general manager, Welsh Slate, Special Aggregates, Circular Economy, at Breedon Group, added: “We are thrilled to be part of the work to conserve Penrhyn Quarry Hospital. We understand the fondness for the site locally and as landowners want to ensure it is maintained as sensitively as possible.

“As a proud partner in the project, we are delighted that our contribution of materials towards the work will enable funding to go further towards the sensitive conservation of the structure.”

The initial conservation work is expected to take around seven months, and open days will be arranged during that time to allow members of the public to see firsthand what is going on. HistoryPoints* QR codes beside the footpath enable people to read about the hospital on their smartphones.

Councillor Nia Jeffreys, Cyngor Gwynedd’s cabinet member for Economy and Community said: “This essential work will safeguard the monument for future generations, facilitating better opportunities for access and interpretation of this much-loved site. Cyngor Gwynedd is pleased to be a partner in this project and is looking forward to working with Welsh Slate and Cadw on the scheme.”

Elgan Jones of Donald Insall Associates said: “The removal of the vegetation highlighted the fragile condition of the building fabric and without this intervention would likely deteriorate at an accelerated rate, rendering the structure unsafe and eventually result in its collapse. We are thrilled to work alongside a passionate project team with a shared goal to safeguard the fabric and conserve the architectural and historical details, which tells us of its former use and role within the wider slate landscape.”

Lord Dafydd Wigley, chair of The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales World Heritage Site Partnership Board, said: “The story of health and welfare within the slate valleys is a vital and fascinating part of its history. The quarrymen were trailblazers when it came to social care, and these hospitals led the way in many of the treatments and medication we rely so heavily upon in today’s health service.

“Safeguarding this structure is vital in telling the story of healthcare across the World Heritage Site, so to ensure that Penrhyn Quarry Hospital is able to relay the story of its location by securing the structure and including interpretation is a fantastic prospect.”

For more information on Penrhyn quarry hospital, go to Ruins of quarry hospital, Bethesda - History Points, and for a video on the restoration work, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjRXXGjomZ4.

*HistoryPoints was established in 2012 to exploit mobile internet technology as a means of delivering historical information to the public as they visit featured locations in Wales. By 2018, it had created QR codes for display at more than 1,400 places of interest across the country.
 

Lapicida has been chosen to partner with English Heritage to create an exclusive collection of limestone floors in three formats inspired by the different flooring found in the buildings cared for by English Heritage.

Each stone is available in three formats: 400mm x 400mm square; 500mm x random flag; and 400mm x 400mm octagon with inserts. All are hand-finished with diamond brushing by the team at Lapicida for improved durability and gives each stone a distinctive character and an aged appearance:

• Blackfriars Cream was inspired Blackfriars Priory, Gloucester which dates back to the thirteenth-century and is one of the most complete surviving Dominican friaries. 
• Belsay Blue Beige takes inspiration from the Pillar Hall at Belsay Hall in Northumberland. Completed in 1817, it designed by the then owner Sir Charles Monck, inspired by the sites of antiquity he had seen on his honeymoon in Greece. 
• Brockhurst Blue was inspired by Fort Brockhurst in Hampshire that was built in the mid-nineteenth century, to defend England’s shores from a possible French invasion. 
• Built in the 1720s, Marble Hill in Twickenham was the inspiration for Marble Hill White. A Palladian-style building on the banks of the Thames in Twickenham, it's one of London’s finest historic houses.

Alexandra Bovey of English Heritage said: “English Heritage is delighted to collaborate with Lapicida. We identified them as the leading expert in high-quality natural stone flooring and it’s been a pleasure working with them to create a collection which takes inspiration from places in our care.”

Bookings are now open for the Stone Federation's Natural Stone Awards taking place Friday 6 December at London's Leonardo Royal Hotel Tower Bridge.

The event will honour some of the best natural stone projects and is a highlight for many – uniting more than 300 architects, designers, contractors, clients, and natural stone industry companies – who take the opportunity to celebrate and network. 

This event is always popular and the Stone Federation are encouraging booking early to avoid disappointment. There will be a limited number of Gold and Silver table packages, which will be allocated on a 'first-come-first-served' basis. 

Individual places start from £155 + VAT while a table (seating 10) starts at £1,550 + VAT. To book your table or places, please email awards@stonefed.org.uk.

Natural Stone Industry Training Group (NSITG) has worked with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to develop several short duration courses to enhance the skills of those who work in the stone industry.

These courses were created with input from organisations within the sector and are now approved and ready for delivery. Six courses will now be available and include:

• Defects management in construction introduction
• Lime mortar introduction
• Drawing skills for stonemasonry introduction
• Setting out in stonemasonry intermediate
• Prepare backgrounds to receive stonework introduction
• Produce templates for stonemasonry introduction

Each course is around six hours long and NSTIG has said it will continue to work on further development of other short duration courses – and with training providers and colleges who will be able to deliver them.  

The short duration courses are not designed to replace apprenticeships or a lead to a qualification but a short duration training that can be used to upskill team members or provide an introduction to a particular skill.

All available courses can be found on the CITB website.

Tom Waugh MRSS is a sculptor working with natural stone and has been an associate member of the Royal Society of Sculptors since 2018. After gaining a First in Architectural Stone Carving at the City and Guilds of London Art School, he went on to produce work for St Pancras Station, St Martin in the Fields and St George’s Chapel, Windsor. You can also see his work in the collections of Warwick University, Gladstone’s Library and Messums Wiltshire. He has previously spent time in India studying traditional carving techniques with the temple carver Raja Saceran and takes inspiration from crushed and squashed objects that are often overlooked. We catch up with him to find out more.

Can you tell us how you got into stonemasonry?
In 2002, I was unemployed and living in Bristol. There was a church being restored in St Pauls near where I lived, and I was fascinated by seeing the masons working stone at the bottom of the scaffold. I asked the head mason if he would take me on and I quickly progressed from sweeping up to fixing and working stone. I studied stonemasonry for a year while I was working at St Paul’s Church and then moved to London to complete a three-year diploma in Architectural Stone Carving at the City and Guilds of London Art School. The course focused on figurative and decorative carving, but my foundation in stonemasonry was invaluable. I went on to work on conservation and restoration of historic buildings and monuments including St Paul’s Cathedral, St Martin in the Fields and the Perseus and Andromeda Fountain at Witley Court.

What inspires you?
I take inspiration from many sources but at the most basic level I like forms that are crushed or squashed. One of the first pieces that I carved was a crushed cardboard box that reminded me of classical and baroque drapery. This theme appears consistently throughout my work.

What reaction do you hope your work will provoke?
I hope my work is enjoyed by a wide range of people, I try to make work that I would like to see, and I often use humour to convey a more serious message.

Can you talk about your artistic process?
In my work I represent everyday objects in stone and marble. I select different materials that share qualities with the objects that I am representing. I recently carved a wheelie bin using grey marble to look like plastic and a jerry can in ironstone that looks like rusty metal. There is always a seed of an idea that will sit with me for a while before I commit to it, sometimes after several years. For me the message is as important as the finished object but I like my work to stand alone, without the need for an accompanying text. I am always trying to push the boundaries of what is possible in stone and I hope this will play a small part in moving the craft forward.

Do you have a dream commission?
I have completed a number of public art commissions and I always love the opportunity to see my work in shared spaces. My dream commission would be a large-scale stone sculpture in a prominent public space as previous commissions have been smaller or on housing developments where they are not seen so much.

Where would you most like to see your work placed?
In a city centre, maybe Bristol or London.

In terms of materials, what is your preferred stone to work with?
I love the results of working with marble but the finishing takes a lot longer than limestone. I also like Great Tew Ironstone – it is tricky to carve because it is so inconsistent but it has a rusty metal look which I love. The stone that is nicest to carve are some of the French limestones like Caen or Lavoux.

Hand tools or machines?
I use a combination of traditional techniques and modern tools. For my 1:1 sculptures I will sometimes use a pointing machine for accuracy, and to scale up I use proportional calipers. I start roughing out with angle grinders and I move on to pneumatics. I always finish with a hammer and chisel. All tools have their place if used correctly and not overused.

Do you worry that the art of stonemasonry is dying?
I do worry that a lot of traditional skills are in danger of dying out, including stonemasonry. There will always be a need for hand cut stone to preserve our built heritage and stone and marble will continue to be used for sculpture but as a trade I think it is definitely under threat.

Whose work do you admire most?
The sculptor that I keep coming back to is Gian Lorenzo Bernini. His ability to transform hard marble into soft flesh or flowing drapery is extraordinary. I am always looking for sculpture that confounds expectation, where it is not immediately clear how it was made or what from. Richard Wilson’s installation ‘20:50’ had this effect on me when I saw it in 2003. He uses crude oil to fill a gallery with a walkway going out to the middle of the space. This creates a surface so reflective that it initially appears to be empty space.

To find out more, visit: tomwaugh.com

The Worktop Fabricators Federation (WFF) met with members of the Health and Safety Executive at Porcelanosa in Glasgow to review draft guidelines to improve manufacturing practice, highlighting the need for proper risk management and the dangers of dry-cutting.

This was the first opportunity for members, potential members and sponsors of the WFF from England and Scotland to comment and reflect on the proposed safety guidelines designed to help keep workers safe.

Senior HSE occupational hygiene expert Sue Hamblin and stone industry lead Natalie Tinsley shared the thinking behind the new guidelines, and the HSE’s determination to address the industry’s fears that the actions of a few unprincipled manufacturers might compromise the whole market for engineered stone worktops.

“There is no appetite in Westminster for Australian-style product-bans,” said WFF consultant Chris Pateman. “If the Australian industry had been subject to the kind of regulatory environment we enjoy in the UK, the ban would probably never have come about in the first place.

“All of the UK cases of occupationally-acquired silicosis so far have been among young men who have contracted the disease over a very short time frame, because they have been routinely exposed to many times the Workplace Exposure Limit. The WFF and the HSE are working closely on this, because we have a mutual interest in ensuring good practice is recognised.”

WFF members are all invited to review and share comments on the draft guidelines, before HSE takes a view on how and when to publish a final version – something that will be suitable not only for professional fabricators, but for building site managers, for point-of-sale display next to stone worktop blanks in joinery wholesalers, and for kitchen showroom managers, to remind them that with the decision to sub-contract fabrication of a stone worktop comes a legal responsibility as the lead contractor to ensure that fabrication is undertaken against a properly risk-assessed procedure.

For more information, contact: office@worktopfabricators.org

Stone Automation Ltd has agreed a distribution partnership with Leica Geosystems starting with immediate effect. With more than 200 years of history and experience, Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, supplies premium sensors, software and services to professionals in surveying, construction, infrastructure, mining, mapping and other geospatial content-dependent industries. 

Leica Geosystems recently introduced the new Leica Geosystems software-based and AI-enabled solutions for interior finishing and digital templating tailored to the residential construction market and specifically for the creation of digital templates for countertops, splashbacks and including offsets, roundings and cut-outs.

The brand will join Donatoni, Wodiam, Tesimag and Slabsmith and increase Stone Automation's portfolio to five brands and enhance its offering to the stone, glass, ceramic, tiling and engineered materials processing industries in the UK and Ireland. 

Stone Automation founder Salvatore Caruso said, “Becoming a channel partner for Leica Geosystems is proud moment for everyone at Stone Automation. Their innovative and high precision solutions lead the market and are devised with an incredible focus on the users and an understanding of their daily tasks. We know that Leica Geosystems’ solutions will help a wide spectrum of fabrication businesses work more efficiently, and that is at the core of our business. We are really looking forward to introducing their intuitive products to the region and supporting new customers.”