Santa Ana, CA — California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is “extremely motivated” to transfer ahead on an emergency non permanent standard on silica hazards for employees who deal with engineered stone.
Speaking throughout a Sept. 20 company replace webinar hosted by the National Safety Council Divisions, Brandon Hart, program supervisor for communications and strategic planning at Cal/OSHA, mentioned the company hopes to submit an ETS to the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board for a vote in early 2024.
Hart added that engineered stone, generally used to make family counter tops, “comprises nearly 90% crystalline silica, which is far more than just natural stone.”
Inhaling silica mud can harm lung tissue and lead to silicosis, outlined by NIOSH as “an irreversible but preventable lung disease.”
In a 2019 report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spotlighted a rise in instances of silicosis amongst employees who deal with engineered stone used for counter tops. CDC referred to as the difficulty “an emerging public health threat.”
The Cal/OSHA ETS would apply to all workplaces utilizing engineered stone composed of greater than 1% silica and:
- Require a extra stringent demarcation of areas of potential silica exposure and using respirators in these areas, whereas sustaining an current provision for regulated areas.
- Prohibit all fabrication actions that don’t use water to suppress mud.
- Require employers to present respiratory safety to employees fabricating engineered stone “in some situations where the existing regulation requires none, or more protective respiratory protection than workplace conditions require in others.”
As a part of its Silica Special Emphasis Program, Cal/OSHA has despatched letters to greater than 1,000 employers whose services embody work with pure or engineered stone counter tops. The letters embody an summary of the hazards of respirable silica mud and employer obligations to shield employees from them, employer necessities to report carcinogen use, and methods to contact company session companies for free technical help.
On Sept. 25, federal OSHA introduced an initiative geared toward defending employees within the engineered stone fabrication and set up industries from silica exposure.
