A New Era in Stone Surfaces
As global leaders in innovative home renovation solutions, we have always strived to set industry benchmarks when it comes to a safe environment for our employees, our installers and our customers.
Following the Australian Federal Government’s decision to ban engineered stone containing crystalline silica from 1 July 2024, we want to reassure you of our commitment to safety, quality, and our ongoing innovation of cutting-edge, thin, light-weight surfaces.
We want to address any concerns or confusion arising from these recent decisions. Rest assured, your Granite Transformations’ surfaces are entirely safe in the home. The potential exposure to crystalline silica occurs during fabrication, not in your installed surface.
From 1 July 2024, our product transitioned to a new crystalline silica-free formulation, which has the same durability properties as the original surfaces.
Granite Transformations revolutionised the home-makeover industry over 28 years ago, dedicated to serving you, our valued customer. Despite recent developments, our commitment to continuous innovation remains strong.
It’s crucial to emphasise that all Granite Transformations’ surfaces will maintain the same 10-year warranty, regardless of any Government changes. Your satisfaction and confidence in our products are our top priorities.
Are the original Granite Transformations surfaces installed in the home harmful to the customer?
Once installed in homes, the surfaces pose no harm to consumers. The potential health risk is in material processing and fabrication when safety requirements are not met, not in the surfaces themselves. During installation or repair in homes, a minimal amount of dust may be produced, posing no health threat to end users like silicosis, which results from prolonged occupational exposure to silica dust.
Can my existing Granite Transformations benchtop be repaired after 1 July 2024?
Yes. Our 10-year warranty applies to all of our surfaces, regardless of any Government changes. Ministers have agreed to appropriate exceptions on the ban for activities such as repair, removal, minor modification, and disposal of engineered stone products installed prior to the prohibition (legacy products).
What is the difference between the crystalline silica-free surfaces and the recently banned engineered stone?
Both of these products are manufactured in the same way, the major difference being in the raw material. Engineered stone is classified as an artificial product that: a) is created by combining and heat curing natural stone materials that contain crystalline silica (such as quartz or stone aggregate) with chemical constituents (such as resins or pigments). Our crystalline silica-free material is made from recycled glass, polymer resins and pigment.
What are Silica and Quartz?
Quartz is the most common mineral on earth, and can take on many forms. It’s most commonly found as sand on our beaches, other examples are sandstone, marble and granite. These materials contain a number of things including Crystalline Silica, which is a compound of silicon and oxygen.
Granite Transformations surfaces are made from natural materials that include crystalline silica, such as quartz, sand, and granite, which are then bound together with polymers and formed into slabs.
Crystalline Silica is a component of many manufactured products in daily use, such as glass, pottery and quartz surfaces. Silica is very commonly used in construction and at various concentrations in bricks, blocks, tiles, slabs, cement and concrete.
What is Silicosis?
Silicosis is an occupational lung disease that has been known about for more than a century and associated with many industries, with engineered stone being one of them. It may affect workers who are exposed to crystalline silica (quartz) when not using the correct safety measures.
The disease forms when silica dust particles become trapped in lung tissues, causing inflammation and scarring, and reducing the lung’s ability to take in oxygen.
Silicosis and other diseases associated with respirable crystalline silica (RCS) are 100% preventable with the correct safety measures.
How does Granite Transformations ensure the safety of workers in the stone industry?
Due to the thickness of our slabs, combined with the use of H class vacuums and appropriate PPE, Granite Transformations boasts one of the safest methods when it comes to cutting and fabricating engineered stone. Following our Safe Operating Practices also allows us to be able to cut on-site without risk to the customer.
Our workshops have conducted air monitoring testing, resulting in well below industry standard levels of respirable crystalline silica workplace exposure.
Granite Transformations are proud to report that in the 28 years of operation no tradesmen have been affected by Silicosis.
