A bathroom product wholesaler has been sentenced to a small fine for breaching the Australian ban on the manufacture, supply, processing or installation of engineered stone products. Despite the ban coming into effect on 1 July 2024, Fienza Pty Ltd supplied two engineered stone benchtops to two supply stores in regional Victoria on 10 July 2024.
The 2024 prohibition of engineered stone was implemented due to a significant increase in cases of silicosis and silica-related diseases among Australian workers in recent years. A notable proportion of these diagnoses involve engineered stone workers, who are exposed to crystalline silica dust during the processing and installation of products like benchtops, panels, or slabs.
Silica dust is so fine it can enter the deepest parts of the lungs. This dust can build up in the lungs and scar them - leading to a number of diseases such a mesothelioma, silicosis and lung cancer.
Samples of benchtops supplied by Fienza in July 2024 were seized by WorkSafe and revealed a crystalline silica content ranging from 53% to 84%. Following their investigations into the breaches WorkSafe issued a single charge to Fienza under regulation 319Y(b) of the OHS Regulations for directing or allowing a worker under their management or control to perform an engineered stone process, cutting holes in engineered stone benchtops at its Epping warehouse in July 2024.
Fienza was also issued with 21 charges under regulation 319Y(a) of the OHS Regulations for directing or allowing a worker under their management or control to supply engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs. It is alleged that Fienza Pty Ltd supplied engineered stone benchtops on 21 occasions to traders in Epping, Bairnsdale, Narre Warren, Mitcham, Bendigo, Warrnambool, Boronia, Warragul, Hastings, Belmont, Lakes Entrance, Richmond, Hamilton, Hoppers Crossing and Ravenhall.
The charges against Fienza were the first issued by WorkSafe under the new laws.
The Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court this month accepted Fienza’s guilty plea to a rolled-up charge under regulation 319Y of the OHS Regulations for illegally supplying engineered stone benchtops to traders in Epping and Bairnsdale. Fienza was sentenced to a fine of $3,500 without conviction.
The maximum applicable penalty value for a single breach of s.319Y of the OHS Regulations at the time of the incident was approximately $98,000.
In February 2025 the Sentencing Advisory Council released a report to the Victorian Government making 12 recommendations for reform regarding the sentencing of OHS offences in Victoria. This included significantly increasing maximum penalties for breaching OHS duties in line with community expectations. The Victorian Government is yet to provide a response to this report.
Read more: Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings | WorkSafe Victoria