{"id":382,"date":"2016-03-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-28T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/compliance-signs.local\/osha-issues-final-rule-on-silica-dust\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T16:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T20:18:10","slug":"osha-issues-final-rule-on-silica-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.compliancesigns.com\/blog\/osha-issues-final-rule-on-silica-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"OSHA Issues Final Rule on Silica Dust"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

OSHA has issued a final rule to limit exposure to respirable crystalline silica. The rule is comprised of two standards, one for Construction and one for General Industry and Maritime. OSHA estimates the rule will save over 600 lives and prevent more than 900 new cases of silicosis each year, once its effects are fully realized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers Impacted by the New Silica Rule:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

About 2.3 million workers are exposed to respirable crystalline silica in their workplaces, including 2 million construction workers who drill, cut, crush, or grind silica-containing materials such as concrete and stone, and 300,000 workers in general industry operations such as brick manufacturing, foundries and hydraulic fracturing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 2005 through 2014, silicosis was listed as the underlying or a contributing cause of death for more than 1,100 people in the United States, but most deaths from silicosis go undiagnosed and unreported. Those fatality numbers do not include additional deaths from other silica-related diseases such as COPD, lung cancer and kidney disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new permissible exposure limit (PEL) limits worker exposures to 50 micrograms of respirable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air, averaged over an eight-hour day. This level is the same for all workplaces covered by the standard (general industry\/maritime and construction), and is roughly 50 percent of the previous PEL for general industry, and roughly 20 percent of the previous PEL for construction and shipyards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSHA says previous PELs were outdated, inconsistent and did not adequately protect worker health. The old PELs were based on studies from the 1960s and earlier that did not reflect more recent scientific evidence showing that low-level exposures to silica cause serious health effects, including lung cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Provisions of the New Silica Rule:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Reduces the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Requires employers to:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n