Employers Scrambling To Comply With New Silica Standards

by, Robert Box, Business Contributor, Exclusive to Corridor News

OSHA last week issued its final rule for employers to control and limit silica exposures to workers.  The rule was designed to reduce cases of silicosis, lung cancer, kidney disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  According to OSHA, the rule will save 600 lives annually despite only 101 lives being presently lost to silicosis per year (ref. a 2015 Center for Disease Control report).

OSHA’s rule is composed of two standards, one for general industry and maritime, and the other for construction.  General industry operations covered by the standard will include industries such as brick manufacturing, foundries, and hydraulic fracturing.  Construction employers whose workers participate in tasks such as drilling, cutting, crushing or grinding silica-containing materials such as concrete and stone, or work in proximity of other workers who do, must comply with the standard.

New Requirements

According to OSHA, the new rule will require employers to do the following:

• Reduce the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift.
• 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
• Facilitate medical exams to highly exposed workers
• Train workers on silica risks and how to limit exposures

Both standards take effect in 90 days (June 23, 2016), after which industries have 1 to 5 years to comply with many of the requirements.  The compliance schedule for industries is as follows:

• Construction – June 23, 2017
• General Industry and Maritime – June 23, 2018
• Hydraulic Fracturing – June 23, 2018, except for the engineering controls provisions, which have a compliance date of June 23, 2021

Details regarding the standard can be found on OSHA’s silica web page.

Safety First Consulting helps businesses identify OSHA compliance issues in their workplaces, manage their safety programs, and we become accountable for the results.  In addition to offering custom written safety programs for companies, Safety First Consulting provides required safety training, industrial hygiene sampling, noise sampling, and workplace inspections.