Page 8 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2019

RISK MANAGEMENT
OSHA’s Crystalline Silica Standards: New Solution to a Very Old Problem
Virtually all portions and requirements of OSHA’s Crystalline Silica Standards are now in effect and enforceable, so immediate compliance is imperative.
BY T.A. “ANDY” ROWLAND III
It was March of 1930. Mohandas Gandhi was in the midst of his Salt March to the Arabian Sea, the industrialized world was about to experience the lowest point of the Great Depression, Babe
Ruth had signed a new contract with the New York Yankees, and ground was being broken in West Vir- ginia on construction of a diversion channel known as the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel. The tunnel was to be a critical component of a hydroelectric plant, but be- fore the three-mile tunnel through Gauley Mountain was completed, at least 764 laborers died from acute silicosis (United States National Park Service, https:// www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/the-hawks-nest-tun- nel-disaster-summersville-wv.htm). As hundreds of unprotected workers picked, dug, and blasted their way through the silica-rich rock, a cloud of choking dust enveloped the tunnel and permeated the work- ers’ lungs. Eight decades later, the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel incident is still recognized as one of the worst occupa- tional disasters in modern history.
In 1936, a congressional subcommittee published its findings regarding the Hawk’s Nest incident. While the report included a strong indictment of the build- ers of the tunnel, no further actions were undertak- en. Fortunately, publicity regarding the incident did shape opinions, and by the close of 1937, all but two of the then 48 states had enacted laws benefiting workers with silicosis. While these measures constituted steps in the right direction, they were not preventative in
nature. Such critical employer requirements would not be enacted for another 80 years.
New Solution
In 1997, the World Health Organization’s Internation- al Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified Crystalline Silica dust as a human carcinogen (Group 1). Ultimately, this act placed the IARC in agreement with the U.S. National Toxicology Program and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that occupational exposure to silica increases one’s odds of developing lung cancer. This meant that silica was a human carcinogen present at countless work- places and whose occupational exposure limit had not been re-evaluated in nearly half a century. It was finally time for significant regulatory change.
In March 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a new rule to control exposure to respirable crystalline silica. The silica rule is comprised of two separate stan- dards. The first (29 CFR 1926.1153) is known as the Silica Construction Standard, and it applies to work within the construction industry, including construction, demolition, alterations, repair, bridge erection, roadwork, excavations, large-scale paint- ing projects, etc. The second (29 CFR 1910.1053), known as the General Industry & Maritime Stan- dard, applies to work within the manufacturing (static in nature) and shipyard industries. The
8 Occupational Health & Safety | JUNE 2019
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