OSHA Proposes New Limits on Silica Exposure

In August 2013, OSHA announced a proposed rule that would lower the worker exposure to crystalline silica. This deadly dust often occurs in common workplace operations such as construction work involving cutting, sawing, drilling and crushing of concrete, brick, rock and stone. Silica can also be found in glass manufacturing and sand blasting. Worker can inhale the dust from particles in the air. Repeat exposure can cause fatal lung diseases including silicosis and lung cancer.

Prior to the new proposed rule, the guidelines of the exposure limit dated to the 1960s. Since then, numerous studies have shown an increase of lung cancer among silica-exposed workers. A 2012 federal study demonstrated that a growing number of workers in the energy industry were increasingly at risk of being exposed to silica dust due the recent domestic oil and gas boom brought on by hydraulic fracturing.  This study also found that hydraulic fracturing workers were exposed to 10 times the current permissible level of silica. The new proposed rule would limit the exposure to crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter in the workplace. OSHA is estimating that if adopted as a standard, its proposed rule would save nearly 700 lives and prevent 1,600 new cases of silicosis annually.

Until a final silica standard is issued, there are several OSHA standards that employers are required to comply with that can help protect workers exposed to silica dust.  For example:

• General Safety and Health Provisions Standard (1926.20) addresses the employee’s general right to a safe workplace.
• Gases, Vapors, Fumes, Dusts and Mists Standard (1926.55(a)) lists the airborne levels of substances that would make a workplace hazardous.
• The Ventilation Standard (1926.57) must be consulted for specific requirements about removing silica dust from a worker’s breathing zone.
•  For worker training requirements about silica hazards, the Hazard Communication Standard (1926.59) applies, which is identical to 1910.1200.
• If respirators are required on-the-job, then employers must comply with the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard (1926.103), which is identical to 1910.134.

SafetySkills online safety training courses can assist you and your company with the proper awareness level safety training. The silica awareness course addresses standard 1926.55 and will demonstrate to the learner the health effects associated with crystalline silica exposure, and measures that can be taken to eliminate or minimize crystalline silica exposure on the job. The hazard communication course assists the employer in meeting OSHA standard 1910.1200 and complies with the December 2015 GHS final implementation. The respiratory protection course covers the general requirements for respiratory protection which is outlined in 29 CFR 1910.132 and some of the training requirements of 29 CFR 1910.134.