OSHA’s June 23 Silica Deadline Delayed

WASHINGTON – Enforcement of new crystalline-silica-dust standards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will be pushed back 90 days, the federal agency announced last week.

The rules for on-the-jobsite construction will go into effect on Sept. 23 this year, instead of on June 23.

That delay, however, means little to stone fabricators and other shop-based trades – their deadline for compliance remains mid-2018.

In an April 6 release, the federal agency announced that it “determined that additional guidance is necessary due to the unique nature of the requirements in the construction standard.

“OSHA expects employers in the construction industry to continue to take steps either to come into compliance with the new permissible exposure limit, or to implement specific dust controls for certain operations as provided in Table 1 of the standard.

“Construction employers should also continue to prepare to implement the standard’s other requirements, including exposure assessment, medical surveillance and employee training.”

OSHA spokesperson Kimberly Darby confirmed that general-industry employers, which includes stone fabricators, will need to comply with new silica-dust standards by June 23 next year.

The Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), an industry advocacy group, approved of OSHA’s action, but also called for a longer delay in enforcing the rule.

“We remain committed to working with the agency to create a feasible standard that promotes safe and healthy jobsites,” the group noted in a release late last week. “While the CISC appreciates the 90-day delay in enforcement, the CISC remains concerned about the overall feasibility of the standard in construction and has requested that the agency delay enforcement for a year.”

Several stone and stone-related industry associations, including the Marble Institute of America & Building Stone Institute (MIA+BSI) and the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA), are CISC members.

The delay does nothing to clairify the confusion over OSHA’s categorization of different industries. Surface fabricators with in-house and enclosed facilities are considered part of the “general-industry” group, with tougher permissible-exposure limits (PELs) for crystalline silica than jobsite-related work that goes in OSHA’s “construction industry” category.

Crystalline silica dust, released mainly through cutting of materials, can be produced through work with many surfaces, including natural stone, engineered stone (quartz surfaces) and tiles.

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