Stone Benchtop Install (Post-Fab) SWMS

Stone benchtop installation is the post-fabrication delivery, lift and fixing of slabs cut to size off site. Since 1 July 2024 the manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs has been prohibited across all Australian WHS jurisdictions, so a new engineered stone top cannot lawfully be installed. This document therefore scopes new installations to natural stone, porcelain and sintered surfaces — porcelain and sintered products sit outside the engineered stone definition where they contain no resin — and separately covers controlled work on engineered stone installed before the ban. Removal, repair, minor modification and disposal of that legacy material remain lawful only as controlled processing, and most jurisdictions require the PCBU to notify the regulator before the work starts.

Post-fabrication installation is not automatically high risk construction work: no category in section 291 covers manual handling, silica or stone work in itself. It becomes high risk construction work through the job around it — most commonly powered mobile plant operating in the fit-out area — and a SWMS is mandatory under section 299 once a category is engaged. The controlling hazards are the two-person lift of slabs routinely exceeding 80 kg, slab toppling during staging, sharp polished and mitred edges, and respirable crystalline silica where a cut-out has to be corrected on site.

Hazards identified

7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.

1. 1Elimination — Specify natural stone, porcelain or sintered surfaces at selection stage; engineered stone cannot lawfully be installed as a new benchtop. Order full off-site fabrication including all cut-outs, mitres and polishing so no stone cutting occurs on site.
2. 2Elimination — Use vacuum lifters or mechanical slab carts for any slab over 40kg to remove manual lifting from the hazard pathway entirely where access permits.
3. 3Substitution — Replace dry trimming with wet-cut diamond tooling using integrated water suppression for any unavoidable on-site adjustment to suppress respirable dust at point of generation.
4. 4Substitution — Use low-VOC two-part polyester seam adhesives in cartridge form instead of bulk MMA where colour-match permits, reducing vapour exposure.
5. 5Engineering — Deploy H-class HEPA on-tool extraction connected to any grinder or polisher used on site, with airflow verified before each shift per AS/NZS 60335.2.69.
6. 6Engineering — Position A-frame trolleys on level floor protection with mechanical slab clamps and webbing restraints to prevent toppling during staging.
7. 7Administrative — Conduct documented two-person lift plan at pre-start identifying lift path, rest points, hand positions, and abort triggers; rotate tasks every 45 minutes.
8. 8Administrative — Notify the WHS regulator before any removal, repair, minor modification or disposal of previously installed engineered stone, stating the type of work, a description of it, and its estimated frequency and duration; maintain silica health monitoring records and exposure register entries per the jurisdictional Code of Practice, and exclude non-essential trades from the kitchen during any cutting.
9. 9PPE — Cut-resistant Level D gloves (AS/NZS 2161.3), steel-toe boots (AS/NZS 2210.3), safety glasses (AS/NZS 1337.1) for all slab handling.
10. 10PPE — P2 half-face respirator with fit-test record (AS/NZS 1715/1716) mandatory during any on-site cutting, grinding, or cleanup of stone dust or slurry.

Applicable Codes of Practice

Worked example

On a two-storey townhouse fit-out, a stonemason crew of two arrives to install a 3.2m natural granite island top weighing 142kg plus L-shaped perimeter pieces. The leading hand opens this SWMS at the pre-start brief on the tailgate, walks both installers and the site supervisor through the seven hazards, and confirms the two-person lift plan covers the stair access, the kitchen entry threshold, and the placement sequence over the island carcase. They identify that the original fabrication drawing missed a 4mm tap hole adjustment — meaning on-site cutting is now required, escalating the silica hazard. The SWMS triggers the engineering control: they retrieve the H-class vacuum, attach it to the angle grinder, verify suction, and don P2 respirators with current fit-test cards before the cut. All four workers and the supervisor sign the SWMS sign-on register. During the slab lift, the second installer signals a hand-position adjustment at the doorway pinch point; the leading hand calls a controlled set-down on the A-frame, the team re-grips per the lift plan, and the SWMS is annotated with the field amendment. After placement, the SWMS is left in the site box for the plumber and electrician arriving the next day to review before connecting services around the stone.

Related legislation

• WHS Act 2011 (model)
• WHS Regulation 2025
• Crystalline Silica — National Strategy + CoP

Frequently asked questions