Safety Regulator Aims to Protect Workers From ‘Engineered Stone’

Renewed health concerns about workers who cut and grind man-made “engineered stone”—a common material for home countertops—has prompted OSHA to launch a new enforcement program.

The effort, announced Monday, calls on US Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors to investigate employers involved with the manufacturing or wholesale trade of engineered stone.

In justifying the inspection effort, the agency cited several health studies that concluded that workers cutting into engineering stone without proper safeguards face long-term health problems such as the lung disease silicosis.

Many of the businesses covered by the new initiative were already subject to inspections under OSHA’s ...