I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the issue of shop safety after recently hearing about another tragic accident where falling slabs took the lives of two shop workers. It was just another day for these workers until the unimaginable happened.

OSHA and NIOSH have identified exposure to silica as a health hazard to workers involved in finishing and installing natural and manufactured stone countertop products, both in fabrication shops and during in-home finishing/installation.

Whether it is a new hire or a current employee, proper training, including cross-training, is important. Employees that are properly trained and cross-trained result in maintaining a high-quality efficient fabrication shop. Below are a few tips to help develop a valuable training program.

Visits to a stone shop or slab yard should not be a life threatening experience. But the truth is, stone can be dangerous and accidents happen all the time. They happen to stone workers, contractors, truckers and to the public.

In this issue, you will see that we address the subject of shop safety, which I think everyone agrees is an important topic. In a matter of seconds, one wrong move or misjudgment can lead to an accident, or even more tragic to think about – a fatality.

What started 11 years ago as The Granite Buyer’s Club with a few top-tier fabricators that shared a collective enthusiasm of the outdoors has since evolved into the Artisan Group.

With the hazards of working in the stone industry always a concern and OSHA tightening its rulings on silicosis, fabricators continue to implement procedures and emphasize to their employees the importance of safety in the work place.