The Silicosis Crisis & the Hierarchy of Controls

By Ted Sherritt, ISFA President

2024 continues to amplify awareness around the risks associated with the work we do as fabricators every day. From the products we manufacture and sell to the processes we implement to the machinery and supplies we buy, protecting employees from the respirable crystalline silica influences these critical business decisions.

And let’s be crystal clear: The responsibility for employee safety is 100% on the owner. It is up to ownership to set and management to enforce effective procedures that safeguard every employee, vendor, partner and customer. Ignorance of the risks associated with our work is not a defense; it’s a shameful cop-out.

Australia’s ban on engineered stone goes into effect in July. California is pushing to make its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) permanent while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) considers changes to safety standards on a federal level. Other jurisdictions around the world are watching.

Many provisions in Cal/OSHA’s ETS will improve employee safety. It calls for the enforcement of stop work orders when dry cutting, dry grinding, or dry polishing is observed or if dust is visible in the air. If noncompliant shops are shuttered until engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment (PPE) are effectively put in place, at least the risk of harm to the workers in these shops is minimized. But enforcement is just one part of the wave required to turn the tide on the silicosis crisis. State legislation around fabricator licensing and supply channel controls is on the table, but there’s work to be done to amend the bill to focus solely on worker safety, training and awareness.

Along with legislative issues, Cal/OSHA has disregarded the Hierarchy of Controls established by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) concerning the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) and Action Level (AL), which were established in the 2016 regulations. Based on the Hierarchy of Controls, Cal/OSHA’s reliance on PPE to protect workers focuses on the least effective control, thereby creating an unjustified burden on compliant fabrication shops. ISFA, in partnership with the Natural Stone Institute, is pursuing medical research that substantiates that the PEL and AL set by NIOSH are, in fact, effectively mitigating risk.

The study is being done by Yale University’s Medical Department to determine if the current federal standards are adequate. Many fabrication companies conduct air sampling to determine if they comply with air quality regulations in their region. Many also conduct medical testing on staff who work inside the shop and installers who fabricate in the field. As OSHA requires, the medical testing includes at least a chest X-ray with a B reading and spirometry testing to measure lung capacity. We assert that if you operate under the PEL and AL guidelines established by OSHA and medical testing of employees and no silicosis is diagnosed across this population of workers, then the current guidelines are adequate.

To gather accurate data, ISFA and NSI sent out a survey to its fabricator members, asking them to share their information with the researchers at Yale. The timeliness of this study is critical so that we can provide the findings to Cal/OSHA and influence informed decision-making. Cal/OSHA intends to finalize permanent regulations for approval before January 1, 2025.

To anyone who isn’t paying attention or who doesn’t think what is happening in California will affect them, there are many examples of federal OSHA adopting California regulations verbatim. What happens in California will likely be coming to a jurisdiction near you. ISFA and NSI are committed to protecting the health and well-being of fabricators and helping employers access the resources they need to make informed decisions. It’s our charge as trade associations to ensure fabricators have representation in the regulatory arena and that our industry acts in the best interest of everyone involved.