WFF Launches Quality Mark
LONDON – The Worktop Fabricators’ Federation (WFF) has launched a new industry quality mark designed to help consumers, designers, retailers and specifiers identify kitchen countertops and surfaces that have been fabricated safely, without risking workers’ health.
Established in 2020, the WFF is a non-profit organization representing businesses that use industrial fabrication to create surfaces from large format slabs of natural stone and man-made materials.
The Federation’s mission is to promote professionalism within the fabrication and masonry sectors, with a focus on best practices and workplace health and safety policies while active as a unified voice for the industry on matters of industry-wide importance.
The move comes amid rising cases of silicosis linked to unsafe working practices. It aims to distinguish responsible businesses committed to safety, professionalism and quality from those that compromise standards and endanger the workforce.
Built on regular independent workplace assessments conducted by professionally registered occupational hygienists, the quality mark focuses on the recognition, evaluation and control of workplace health hazards.
Participating companies will also actively promote the Lungs at Work project, which provides a direct referral pathway for workers to access medical screening if they may have been over-exposed to respirable crystalline silica in the past.
Accredited businesses will also commit to enhanced health surveillance aligned with new clinical recommendations for early detection of respiratory risk.
The program enables the construction supply chain and retailers to verify whether high-silica products have been fabricated in an environment that complies with recognized good control practices. The quality mark covers all high-silica materials that may pose a health risk.
Companies’ accreditation status will be clearly displayed and easily verified via the WFF website.
Participating fabricators must commit to robust management systems and processes designed to prevent hazardous exposure, monitor workers’ health and ensure comprehensive training and awareness of the dangers associated with poor practices.
The accreditation aligns with the British Occupational Hygiene Society and the Health and Safety Executive guidance on working with high-silica materials. The requirement for independent occupational hygiene assessments of control effectiveness is a first for British manufacturing.
