Page 10 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2019

RISK MANAGEMENT
Crystalline Silica Rule: Quick Reference Table
Construction Standard 29 CFR 1926.1153
General Industry & Maritime Standard 29 CFR 1910.1053
When Does Exposure Typically Occur?
During common construction tasks such as using ma- sonry saws, grinders, drills, jackhammers, and handheld powered chipping tools; operating vehicle-mounted drill- ing rigs; milling; operating crushing machines; and using heavy equipment for demolition or certain other tasks.
During the manufacture of glass, pottery, ceramic,
brick, concrete, asphalt roofing, jewelry, artificial stone, dental, porcelain, or structural clay products; While using industrial sand in operations such as foundry work and hydraulic fracturing; While using sand for abrasive blast- ing (e.g., maritime operations).
What Does the Standard Require Employers to Do?
1. Limit worker exposures to respirable crystalline silica and to take other steps to protect workers;
2. Either employ a control method prescribed within the standard or measure workers’ exposure and choose those dust control measures that will limit exposures to the AL and PEL;
3. Establish and implement a written exposure control plan;
4. Designate a competent person to implement the written exposure control plan;
5. Restrict housekeeping practices that expose workers to silica where feasible alternatives are available;
6. Offer medical exams—including chest x-rays and lung function tests—every three years for workers who are required by the standard to wear a respirator for 30 or more days per year;
7. Train workers regarding work operations that result in silica exposure and ways to limit exposure;
8. Keep records of workers’ silica exposure and medical exams.
1. Determine the concentration of silica to which work- ers are exposed, if the concentration may reasonably be expected to reach the Action Level (AL);
2. Protect workers from exposures above the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL);
3. Establish and implement a written exposure control plan;
4. Limit access to areas where workers could be exposed above the PEL;
5. Use dust controls and safer work methods to protect workers for exposures above the PEL;
6. Provide respirators to workers when dust controls and safer work methods cannot limit exposures to the PEL;
7. Restrict housekeeping practices that might lead to exposure;
8. Offer medical exams every three years to workers exposed at or above the AL for 30 days or more per year; 9. Train workers regarding adverse health effects from exposure, work operations that result in silica exposure, and ways to limit exposure;
10. Keep records of workers’ silica exposure and medical exams.
When Did the Requirements Go into Effect?
Construction employers must comply with all require- ments of the standard by June 23, 2017, except require- ments for laboratory evaluation of exposure samples, which begin on June 23, 2018.
General industry and maritime employers must comply with all requirements of the standard by June 23, 2018, with limited exceptions.
Action Level (AL) = 25 μg/m3 as an 8 hour time weighted average.
Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) = 50 μg/m3 as an 8 hour time weighted average.
Industries
That Typically Involve Potential Crystalline Silica Exposure
Occupations
That Typically Involve Potential Crystalline Silica Exposure
Materials
That Typically Include Crystalline Silica
Abrasive blasting
Asphalt pavement manufacturing
Blast furnaces
Cement manufacturing
Ceramics, clay, and pottery
Concrete mixing
Concrete tunneling
Construction (cement, concrete work) Demolition
Electronics industry
Foundry industry: grinding, molding, shakeout, core room (High Risk)
Hand molding, casting, and forming
Jack hammer operations
Manufacturing abrasives, paints, soap and glass
Mining repair or replacement of linings of rotary kilns and cupola furnaces
Rolling and finishing mills
Sandblasting (High Risk)
Setting, laying, repairing railroad track
Steelwork
Stone, brick, and concrete block cutting, blasting, chipping, grinding, sawing
Tunneling operations
Hydraulic fracturing (High Risk)
Brick mason/stone mason
Construction laborer
Crane and tower operator
Crushing and grinding machine operator Furnace, kiln, non-food oven operator Grinding, abrading, buffing, and polishing Machine operator hand Molder/shaper*
Heavy-equipment mechanic
Janitor or cleaner
Machinist
Metals/plastics machine operator Molding and casting machine operator Mining machine operator
Misc. material moving equipment operator Millwright
Operating engineer
Painter who sandblasts (High Risk) Production supervisor
Rock driller (High Risk) Roof bolter (High Risk) Sandblaster (High Risk) Steelworker welder/cutter Oil & gas workers (High Risk)
*Not Jeweler
Abrasives
Coal dust concrete Dirt
Filter aids
Graphite, natural mica Mineral products Paints
Pavement
Perlite
Plant materials Plastic fillers Polishing compounds Portland cement Sands
Silicates
Slag
Soapstone
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