NZ’s Largest Fabricator Takes Bold Stance Against Silicosis

New Zealand’s largest and only national stone benchtop fabricator, AGB, is continuing its fight against silicosis with the announcement that it will be the first in the country to supply zero-silica engineered stone.

AGB, a family-run business, has been a persistent and staunch advocate for safer products, and a safer working environment for their staff and customers. AGB was the first New Zealand business to ban high-silica engineered stone – shifting from up to 95 percent silica 12 months ago, to market-leading low-silica engineered stone with less than 40 percent silica. Now AGB is again a driving force in the industry, becoming the first supplier in New Zealand to offer zero-silica engineered stone, with slabs expected to land in the country in September.

“If low-silica was the revolution, zero is the evolution. It’s actually not that big of a step to make. This is the next advancement of us being at the forefront of health and safety of workers – and our customers,” Cam Paranthoiene, co-owner of AGB Stone, says. “We have driven this stance with our suppliers because it’s important for our industry.”

AGB owners Cam and Christine Paranthoiene have for many years led the way stone fabricators should operate – including creating proprietary processes, investing millions of dollars in state-of-the-art machinery and being early adopters of wet-cutting and air monitoring as a safeguard against the potentially-fatal lung disease silicosis.

As part of phasing out high-silica slabs they stopped working with suppliers who chose not to meet the company’s standards of less than 40 percent silica. AGB has now taken a bold step of saying they will work with only those suppliers who commit to transition to zero-silica in its engineered stone range.

“There's still so much high and low-silica engineered stone in the market – and it's being heavily-discounted – so we will only work with suppliers who have committed to transitioning out of both product lines to zero-silica.”

The Australian government has imposed a total ban on engineered stone following a 2021 report that claimed one in four stonemasons or joiners working with fabricated stone before 2018 had been diagnosed with silicosis. The ban took effect from July 1 this year, however fabricators have until the end of 2024 to fulfil pre-orders.

Paranthoiene believes this is an unnecessary step – that zero-silica is an excellent solution.

“There has been significant investment in researching and developing a zero-silica product overseas. It continues to improve and is now a better alternative to natural stone or the other products that are exempt from the Australian ban,” he says.

The scale of the danger of silicosis from dust emitted when stone is dry cut or polished was not fully known in the industry until 2019. The New Zealand Engineered Stone Advisory Group (NZESAG), supported by ACC and WorkSafe was established that year to ensure the safe practice guidelines for stone fabricators, with AGB instrumental in setting up those standards.

WorkSafe has previously estimated 60,000 engineered stone slabs are imported each year, and there are believed to be approximately 130 businesses that fabricate them into benchtops for kitchens, bathrooms and commercial premises.

In April 2023, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions urged the Government to protect workers exposed to hazardous material in engineered stone, emphasising that terminal illnesses such as lung cancer, silicosis and other autoimmune diseases are preventable if proper action is taken.

“We applaud WorkSafe for ensuring safe work practises in New Zealand. Auditing and compliance in Australia is not at the same level,” Paranthoiene adds. “Fabricators we visited in Australia told us authorities are not really checking, it’s more a self-governance model. This was a significant consideration for the ban in Australia.”

Better Benchtop’s zero-silica will have a 10-year warranty and will be available initially in 12 colours. Orders are being taken now with stock expected in September.

“It really is no different to fabricate. You're not having to work any harder and it’s safe for everyone from the manufacturer to the installer, to the home owner.”

“We have driven this stance with our suppliers because it’s important for our industry. Our sons work for our business, we live and breathe this air, safety is paramount.”

AGB has six factories across the country and employs more than 130 people. However it is the smaller operators that have not invested in the same level of safety precautions that worries Paranthoiene.

“We are really disappointed that the market has been so slow moving to low-silica given there have been absolutely no issues in our business with doing that. So why are they still bringing in products with more than 40 percent silica? Because there's a demand for it. And a price point. It’s time the industry did the right thing.

“Zero-silica provides peace of mind for our staff and our customers and the reputation of the industry. Consumers need to be voting with their feet, not their wallets. Or risk it being banned.”

About AGB:

AGB is owned by Cam and Christine Paranthoiene, with six factories across New Zealand – Auckland, Waikato, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Christchurch and Central Otago. It specialises in granite, marble, ceramic, acrylic and engineered stone and employs more than 130 people across New Zealand – the country’s largest and only national stone fabricator. It will offer zero-silica through its Better Benchtops brand.

Glossary of terms:

· Silica: Respiratory Crystalline Silica is silica in its harmful state. Silica is also found as Amorphous which is considered safe.

• Natural stone: This is predominantly granite and marble, and contains various levels of RCS from 10% to 80%.
• Engineered stone: There is no legal threshold for high-silica engineered stone in New Zealand – only industry processes to ensure it is cut to order in a safe manner.
• Acrylic: Zero RCS
• Ceramic: Around 10% RCS
• Laminate: Made up of MDF and layers of plastic and decorative paper, this has never contained RCS components. However some companies have started to market laminate as silica-free.

AGB – engineered stone timeline

2008: When Cam and Christine Paranthoiene bought Affordable Granite Benchtops (now AGB), engineered stone was new to the market and a minor player, mainly due to its high price point. The toxicity of silica dust was not yet known, so standard fabrication was dry cutting with fan extraction, with RPE (Respiratory Protective Equipment) worn as primary protection. AGB invested in computerised CNC equipment, so 95 percent of fabrication was wet. The balance was managed with fan extraction and RPE.

2009–2012: Lower-priced engineered stone entered the market. With it came an influx of fabricators – however for many, dust control was not a priority given that the dangers of silica content was not known. The AGB team travelled to Australia to investigate new machinery options, witnessing extremely poor dust management techniques. This coincided with silicosis beginning to be an industry concern.

2012–2019: Severe cases of silicosis were recorded in Australia. AGB continued to invest in wet processing machinery to reduce dust in the factory environment. This included replacing air extraction with a proprietary fogging system to catch dust at work level and push it to the floor – never getting to the level of the workers’ faces. The fogging system was rolled out to all AGB factories nationwide, deemed to be the most effective dust suppressant.

AGB undertook air testing, and results confirmed the success of the fogging system, recording at least 50 percent less than the acceptable Workplace Exposure Standard (WES) for any industry. WorkSafe standards found RPE was not required in AGB factories, but it continued to be used as an additional precaution. As wet grinding tools became available, AGB took the bold step of banning dry grinding from its factories, taking the stance that eliminating dust was better than creating it and then trying to manage it. Fogging and RPE continued.

2020: After quantifying the scale of silicosis in Australia, NZ Engineered Stone Advisory Group (NZESAG), was formed by key industry suppliers and engaged IMPAC to set up a minimum set of safety standards for the sector. The voluntary RCS (Respirable Crystalline Silica) Accreditation Programme was rolled out, to audit fabricators to ensure a minimum safety standard. IMPAC approached AGB and three other engineered-stone fabricators to assemble an initial set of minimum standards for safe fabrication . The final standards agreed on were less rigorous than what was already in place at AGB.

2021-2022: AGB engaged with suppliers, seeking them to scope the feasibility of sourcing a low-silica engineered stone. This would mean that fabricators with good management techniques would further reduce their risk profiles, and those using poor techniques would have guidelines on how to reduce their risk exposure.

2023: AGB moves to ban high-silica stone and launched a new product offering - Better Benchtops. This must have less than 40 percent silica - compared to up to 90 percent in other engineered stone products (and be fabricated using accredited processes), returning it to the level of silica in natural stone, safely manufactured for generations.

2024: AGB becomes the first in New Zealand to offer zero-silica Better Benchtops engineered stone. It announces it will start to transition out of using engineered stone containing silica, and will only work with suppliers who take the same stance.

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