Machine cutting through an engineered stone benchtop. Photo: 123rf
The government is consulting on whether to follow Australia in banning engineered stone benchtops, or to stop short of one.
Australia banned the use and manufacture of engineered stone in July after a concerted campaign focused on people who have become seriously ill.
Workplace Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said workplace inspections had shown up patchy risk management here.
"While I do not believe there is currently evidence to support a full ban of the product, I encourage submitters to provide their views, and the implications of that stance," she said in a statement on Wednesday.
She was open to a full range of regulatory responses.
WorkSafe has taken enforcement against 239 businesses over engineered stone since 2019. "The range of risks assessed has expanded," it said.
Engineered stone is made by mixing finely crushed rock with a polymeric resin. In its solid form it is safe, but shaping it creates dangerous dust.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has already been looking at the regulations for months.
It told the minister in January 2024 there was "a growing body of evidence of harm".
The new consultation comes five years after the first safety alert issued by WorkSafe, warning the dust can cause chronic silicosis or accelerated silicosis that can be fatal.
The Asthma Foundation, doctors and unions have called this year for New Zealand to follow Australia in a ban.
"It is important that we use an evidence-based approach and consider a range of tools to tackle this issue in a New Zealand context," van Velden said.
One message that emerged from a nationwide consultation with industry was that businesses wanted more and better guidance in general, because they "do not receive proper guidance" on how to stay safe, she said.
The wider risks from respirable crystalline silica, aside from engineered stone, are part of the consultation.