On Sept. 7, 黑料不打烊 held a detailing not only the requirements of the U.S. the Occupational Safety and Health Administration鈥檚 (OSHA) respirable crystalline silica standard for the construction industry, but also the perspective of and testimonials from prime and specialty contractors implementing the regulation. Construction industry safety professionals from 黑料不打烊 member firms Haselden Construction鈥攁 vertical building general contractor鈥擪okosing Construction Company鈥攁 heavy highway and industrial general contractor鈥攁nd Faith Technologies鈥攁n electrical specialty contractor鈥攄iscussed how they are dealing with the real world impacts of carrying out this standard on a wide variety of construction jobs.
In addition to this webinar, 黑料不打烊 has developed for 黑料不打烊 members the 鈥Respirable Crystalline Silica in Construction鈥 webpage designed to provide contractors with a better understanding of what is expected of them from OSHA. The information on the page includes the following:
- Plain text summary of the rule;
- Compliance flow chart;
- Enhanced Table 1; and
- Air monitoring and objective data collection form.
The standard provides a comprehensive and complex regulatory scheme for protecting construction workers from exposure to respirable crystalline silica containing dust. The scope of the standard applies to all occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica and significantly lowers the permissible exposure limit (PEL) from 250 micrograms/m3 to 50 micrograms/m3. In addition to the new PEL, contractors will also have to comply with a host of ancillary provisions such as respiratory protection (when required by the standard), housekeeping, medical surveillance, and recordkeeping. Enforcement of the standard begins nationwide, with limited exceptions, on September 23.
To access the recent silica webinar, . To access 黑料不打烊鈥檚 comprehensive silica educational resource webpage, click here.
For more information contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org or 703-837-5410.