California Adopts Tougher Silica Standards
FOLSON, Calif. – California stone fabricators will face stricter rules for operations that will – with extremely rare exception – affect work in the state with all stone, either quarried or manufactured.
The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved an emergency temporary standard (ETS) yesterday on worker safety and respirable crystalline silica. The standard will go into effect on Dec. 29 after a final review by state officials.
The move came on the same day that Australian workplace-safety officials voted to ban engineered stone use and seek a ban on imports of the surfaces.
The California action, by unanimous vote, comes after a 10-month effort by state workplace-safety agency Cal/OSHA and other interested parties to protect workers from silicosis.
The ETS addresses cutting, grinding, polishing and cleanup of artificial stone containing more than 0.1% crystalline silica and natural stone containing more than 10% crystalline silica by weight – a definition that encompasses virtually any business working with hard-surface slabs.
The ETS also defined artificial stone as “any reconstituted, artificial, synthetic, composite, engineered, or manufactured stone, porcelain, or quartz typically within a binding material.”
The state board acted over concern that fabrication of high-silica-content materials, such as most quartz-surface products, is leading to an increase silicosis cases in the states. The California Department of Public Health identified 95 cases of workers developing the non-curable lung condition since 2019, with 10 dying after diagnosis.
The ETS includes requirements that all fabrication be done wet and suppress dust during work and clean-up. Full-face respirators will be required for those working with material; any work must be done in clearly designated areas with strict access by employees or inspectors.
Other requirements, including worker health inspections and reporting to California officials, are noted in previous Stone Update coverage here.
The ETS is now headed to the state’s Office of Administrative Law to check for compliance with other California statutes. Unless problems are found, the ETS should pass review and become effective on Dec. 29.
The emergency regulations will continue for one year. In the interim, Cal/OSHA will likely start the process to make the regulations permanent.
