Ed talks with Mark Meriaux, the Accreditation and Technical Manager at the Natural Stone Institute (NSI) about the current state of Silicosis in this industry, covering a few things you probably do not know - and what the NSI is doing, the resources they have made available to stone fabrication shops in the US, and more.

Links discussed include:

The link to the anonymous silicosis survey being conducted nation-wide:

https://yalesurvey.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eX5tvsDNElDpACq?Q_CHL=qr

or click the link at the top of this page: https://www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/silica/

It is really important that as many stone shops as possible take the 10 minutes to complete this survey.

Silicosis Info: https://www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/silica/

Silicosis Training: https://www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/safety/

Training Certification: https://www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/safetycertificate/

Mark can be reached at Mark@naturalstoneinstitute.org

From the Podcast Studio at the 2024 Coverings conference.

Ed on stage at Coverings and discussing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and your shop!

Ed met with stone shop owners during the Coverings conference in April 2024 on the topic of KPIs and followed this session with Q&A with these shop owners.

In this session, Ed references two articles:

https://fabricatorscoach.com/stop-counting-the-square-feet-you-produce/

and

https://fabricatorscoach.com/how-much-time-is-left-on-your-companys-game-clock/

Aaron Crowley, Chair of NSI’s Safety Committee, talks with Ed about safety topics in the stone fabrication industry. From the latest on Silicosis (Australia’s quartz ban, California’s emergency safety standards), to other key safety issues that are very prominent in daily operations of your countertop fabrication shops.

Whether it is heavy objects (slabs), wet environments/slip/trip, electrical safety, or dust – these are the realities of our industry. Does your insurance cover you?

National Stone Institute (NSI) offers free training on Silicosis, to members and non-members. And there are many safety courses, that are free to NSI members.