The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) just made the lives of workers in the construction, manufacturing, maritime and general industries a lot safer. On Thursday, OSHA issued a final rule to help curb lung cancer, kidney disease, and other chronic illnesses in American workers by limiting their exposure to respirable crystalline silica. The rule will take effect on June 23, 2016.
Crystalline silica is an important industrial material that is commonly found in sand, stone, rock, concrete, brick, block, and mortar. Silica dust is hazardous when very small particles are released in the air and inhaled. For example, during the sandblasting of building materials such as concrete and mortar.
OSHA estimates that 2 million workers in the U.S. are exposed to silica on a regular basis and that this rule will save 600 lives a year. They also are projecting that the net benefits to the US economy will be $7.7 billion annually.
The key provisions on this rule (provided by the OSHA website) are that it:
- Reduces the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift.
- Requires employers to: use engineering controls (such as water or ventilation) to limit worker exposure to the PEL; provide respirators when engineering controls cannot adequately limit exposure; limit worker access to high exposure areas; develop a written exposure control plan, offer medical exams to highly exposed workers, and train workers on silica risks and how to limit exposures.
- Provides medical exams to monitor highly exposed workers and gives them information about their lung health.
- Provides flexibility to help employers — especially small businesses — protect workers from silica exposure.
The compliance schedule is different for each industry. The construction industry effective date has the shortest timeline. Construction companies will need to be in compliance on June 23, 2017. General Industry and Maritime companies have until June 23, 2018. Oil and Gas companies who practice hydraulic fracturing will have until June 23, 2018 (with the exception for Engineering Controls, which is extended to June 23, 2018).