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Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine silica hazards and compliance with related OSHA standards. Silica shows up in materials like sand, stone, concrete, and mortar and is used to make artificial stone, bricks, ceramics, glass, and pottery. Respirable […]
On September 25, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an enforcement and compliance assistance initiative aimed at silica exposures in the engineered stone fabrication and installation industries. OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have identified silica dust exposure as a health hazard for workers in manufacturing, finishing, and […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Region 3 office announced it would extend enforcement of a national emphasis program (NEP) in three states and the District of Columbia to reduce or eliminate workers’ respirable silica exposures. Emphasis program inspections begin after May 3 in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
On February 4, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised its National Emphasis Program (NEP) for enforcement of the construction, general, and maritime industry standards for respirable crystalline silica exposure. OSHA canceled the 2008 Crystalline Silica NEP in October 2017. The replacement NEP addresses enforcement of OSHA’s amended standards for respirable crystalline silica—promulgated March […]
On July 23, 2018, OSHA’s 1-month delay of enforcement of alleged violations of the agency’s Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for General Industry/Maritime (29 CFR 1910.1053) came to an end. During that period, OSHA inspectors were instructed to provide compliance assistance in lieu of enforcement to employers whom inspectors believed were making a good-faith effort to […]