Britain’s workplace safety regulator says it won’t bring a prosecution over one of the UK’s first known silicosis death linked to kitchen stone worktops due to a lack of evidence.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the death of ex-stonemason Wessam Al-Jundi, 28, who died in May, 2024 at Harefield Hospital.
Mr Al-Jundi was admitted to hospital for a lung transplant after becoming seriously ill following his exposure to deadly dust while cutting kitchen worktops made of engineered stone, also known as quartz.
But the Syrian refugee, who arrived in the UK in 2015 after fleeing the war-torn country, was deemed unsuitable for a transplant as he was too unwell.
He died five days after arriving in hospital, with his widow later calling for workers enduring the same “terrible conditions” as her husband to be better protected.
However, despite a coroner saying photographs and a statement from Mr Al-Jundi suggested he was working in “completely unsafe conditions to avoid dust exposure” his former employers will not face prosecution.
The i Paper revealed in 2024 that the UK’s first cases had been detected after epidemics of the occupational lung disease in countries including Spain, California in the US and Australia, which banned quartz in 2024.
This week, an HSE spokesperson told The i Paper: “After a detailed investigation we have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to bring a prosecution in relation to the death of Wessam Al-Jundi.
“We have notified the coroner of our decision and await the date for the inquest to be set.”
Mr Al-Jundi’s family had been informed, said the HSE, to whom it offered “our deepest condolences for their loss.”
The growing number of UK workers exposed to silica
Firms or bosses who breach health and safety law can face up to two years in prison and an unlimited fine.
Mr Al-Jundi had been diagnosed with the incurable lung disease silicosis in 2021, just five years after he was first exposed to quartz dust in 2016 while working for a fabricator in London.
He was among more than 50 UK engineered stone workers diagnosed with silicosis in the past three years. Many are in their 20s and 30s, their average age is 43. Several, including a 23-year-old, have been referred for lung transplants and at least four have died.
In 2024, The i Paper revealed that west London’s senior coroner had issued a very rare Prevention of Future Death (PFD) report into Mr Jundi’s death before an inquest was held.
Coroner Lydia Brown urged two government departments and the HSE to outline a “timetable for action” over the risk of silica dust from unsafe cutting of engineered stone.
In her report, the coroner said: “Evidence from photographs and an in-life statement suggest Wessam was working in completely unsafe conditions to avoid dust exposure.”
More than 50 UK quartz workers have been diagnosed with silicosis since mid-2023PFDs are usually taken after an inquest, with the coroner’s decision to do so beforehand suggesting she had a “deep concern” about the risk to the UK’s engineered stone workers, said Kevin Bampton, chief executive of the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS).
Man-made quartz has become hugely popular in kitchen makeovers, but has been blamed for soaring incidents of silicosis in young stonemasons, as it can contain a much higher level of silica than natural stone like marble or granite, giving off a lethal dust if cut without proper safety measures in place.
Whereas silicosis among workers in industries like mining or construction can take many years or decades to appear, quartz workers have been being diagnosed, fallen ill and died, much younger and after a much shorter exposure to dust.
The i Paper’s Killer Kitchens campaign praised for driving change
The i Paper’s Killer Kitchens campaign, which was launched in 2025 after rising quartz silicosis cases in the UK, has already secured a number of major victories and pushed the HSE into its most significant intervention in the sector to date.
Earlier this month, HSE announced its first regulatory guidance on engineered stone telling firms they are legally required to stop “dry cutting” without water suppression tools to dampen dust.
As part of its crackdown, HSE has launched a nationwide inspection campaign of 1,000 firms to ensure the safety rules are being followed, with enforcement action to be taken against companies putting workers lives at risk.
The same week, a kitemark-style scheme to show quartz slabs have been cut safely was launched by trade body Worktop Fabricators Federation, which represents 60 per cent of the market, with inspections of participating firms carried out by occupational hygienists registered with the BOHS.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is also considering fast-tracking benefit payments for seriously ill silicosis patients after our campaigning revealed a dying stonemason was told he had been approved for Government compensation on the day he died.
Lawyers for father-of-two Marek Marzec, 48, had spent months pressing the DWP to speed up his claim for benefits linked to the compensation lump sum.
Kevin Bampton, chief executive of the BOHS, the UK’s chartered body for workplace safety, praised The i Paper’s long-running investigation into silicosis and the Killer Kitchens campaign.
“I can’t imagine that the level of interest in parliament, in Government, in the HSE and within the industry, would have been anywhere near what it is without The i Paper campaign,” he said.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Respiratory Health praised The i Paper‘s “hard work and diligence on this issue”, saying it had “made an enormous difference” to irts efforts in Westminster.
Mr Al-Jundi had lived in Ealing, west London, since 2015, and worked as a stonemason at the firm Yes Marble from 2016 to 2020. The company folded in 2020.
The HSE launched an investigation into his death alongside the Metropolitan Police, with the regulator assuming primacy over the force in the probe in June, 2025.
It’s understood the HSE decision not to prosecute could change if further evidence emerges at the inquest into Mr Al-Jundi’s death, which is due to start later this year.
In her PFD report, coroner Ms Brown said firms in the industry were putting workers lives at risk through inadequate water suppression systems, respiratory personal protection and ventilatory systems to extract dust.
Marek Marzec died in November 2024, just seven months after he was diagnosed with silicosisA pre-inquest review into the death of another quartz stonemason, Marek Marzec, 48, who died in 2024 will resume in July, with Scotland Yard leading the investigation into his death.
Speaking publicly for the first time about his death earlier this year, Mr Jundi’s widow, Malak al-Safade, said: “My husband had worked with stone for many years yet within five years of starting to cut engineered stone he lost his life.
“The coroner has said he was working in terrible conditions with dust all around him and without the proper safety equipment.
“Sadly, none of us knew at the time that this would cost him his life. More must be done straight away to protect stoneworkers before other families have to go through the terrible pain we are going through.”
Andrew Cooper, a solicitor from law firm Leigh Day who are representing Mr Al-Jundi’s family, said his death was just one of a growing number of silicosis cases of stoneworkers they were dealing with.
“Our clients have described working in dust filled rooms with no windows and no effective dust extraction equipment or respirators,” he said.
Sian Elliott, director of organising at the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said Mr Al-Jundi’s death was “yet another proof that silica dust is a killer”.
“Britain should follow Australia’s lead, where the supply and cutting of engineered stone has been banned,” she said.
Hence then, the article about bosses escape prosecution over uk kitchen stone worker death caused by killer dust was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Bosses escape prosecution over UK kitchen stone worker death caused by killer dust )
Also on site :
- PRIVACY ALERT: Radiology Associates of Richmond Under Investigation for Data Breach of Nearly 266,000 Records
- Americans are feeling inflation’s pinch into the holiday weekend. Here’s where prices are rising the most
- Masculinity Satire Australian Animated Series ‘Finally, a Show About Men!’ Bows on YouTube (EXCLUSIVE)