Industry Involved in Stronger CA Silicosis Regs
(Editor’s note: while the hard-surfaces industry usually refers to the material as “quartz surfaces,” the term “engineered stone” is used in the various documents and media reports on the subject.)
California workplace regulators and industry reps will be among those meeting next week to address silicosis issues with engineered-stone fabricators — and possibly avert a ban on the popular surface in a metropolitan area of 10 million people.
The Natural Stone Institute (NSI) will join other issue stakeholders Aug. 9 in the first meeting with Cal/OSHA – the main worklplace-safety regulator in the country’s largest state — to develop emergency health rules for working with engineered stone.
As an emergency measure, Cal/OSHA intends to assemble new regulations over a two-to-four-month period. The advisory committee will be advocating an approach based on education, monitoring, and enforcement.
The meeting next week is, in part, the result of months of behind-the-scenes work between Cal/OSHA and members of the industry to address the issue. It’s also due, however, to efforts by medical professionals and others to make silicosis from engineered-stone fabrication into a front-burner issue in a matter of weeks this summer.
Silicosis and engineered-stone fabrication became the focus of medical studies and a National Public Radio series of reports in 2019, but quickly ebbed as COVID-19 became the dominant health issue in early 2020.
The subject resurfaced earlier this year with public media reports in Southern California; Cal/OSHA also received a request from the Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association (WOEMA), a five-state group of 600 health professionals, to create an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to, among other items, prohibit dry fabrication, increase the use of respirators and step up penalties for rules violations.
Since any action would involve all businesses capable of cutting engineered stone — basically every hard-surface fabrication facility in California, regardless of actual product mix — the NSI and others worked with Cal/OSHA informally on initial efforts to increase awareness and use of well-established industrial hygiene controls.
But three events in the past 60 days made the issue, in the words of one person involved, “something with moving parts running very fast.”
First, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in early June directed county officials and staff, withing 90 days, to draft rules banning engineered-stone use as a public-health issue. This would stop sales and installation in an area with a population of 10 million and includes the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The five-member elected board can enact and enforce its own health regulations that supersede federal and state requirements. It’s also seen as one of the most-powerful municipal governments in the country, with members including a former U.S. representative, state legislators, city mayors, and a U.S. secretary of labor.
Second, the California Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board (OSHSB), which sets statewide workplace standards, directed Cal/OSHA on July 20 to draft an ETS on engineered-stone fabrication.
The state board, which oversees Cal/OSHA, took the step after receiving a petition in March from WOEMA, the same group that asked Cal/OSHA in February to take essentially the same action. Cal/OSHA will draft the ETS in the next few months, along with the advisory committee that will include NSI and other industry representatives.
Third, the internal medicine section of the Journal of American Medicine (JAMA®) published Silicosis Among Immigrant Engineered Stone (Quartz) Countertop Fabrication Workers in California, a study of 52 California fabricators during 2019-2022 who contracted silicosis. The study showed 20 of the workers had progressive massive fibrosis; ten of them died.
The appearance in JAMA, one of the highest-regarded peer-review journals in U.S. medicine, led to widespread national reporting from National Public Radio, NBC News, and international coverage from London’s The Independent and Daily Mail, often incorporating “death,” “deadly” and “countertops” in headlines.
In a statement issued yesterday, the NSI reminded stone companies to follow best practices and keep employees safe as coverage continues on the issue, as “these issues will be in the front of mind for many customers.
“As more people become aware of the threat of silicosis and learn about the Cal/OSHA action items,” the statement added, “we encourage companies to remind customers that silicosis is not a danger to homeowners and other end users.”
The NSI also noted it would continue to work on awareness as an answer to calls to prohibit the use of certain materials.
“Some have suggested a ban on select products which contain silica is warranted,” according to the statement. “The vast list of many common products that contain silica, including concrete, brick, plaster, glass, and a wide variety of other products, makes it impractical to focus on the product.
“Product bans do not address the primary issue, which is adherence to safe cutting/polishing measures, coupled with air monitoring and employee education.”
The NSI also noted its current resources on silica and safety, including www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/silica and www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/safety. The group also offers its Silica and Slab Safety certification through www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/safetycertificate.
