Provide medical exams every three years to employees exposed at or above the AL for thirty days or more per year.Sample every three months for employees with exposure levels above the PEL, and every 6 months for employees above the 25 μg/m3 Action Level (AL).Conduct initial assessments to determine exposure levels for jobs.

In addition, it says that employers are required to: When these controls are inadequate to meet the PEL, respirators shall be provided. It requires engineering and work practice controls to suppress dust, namely wet methods, ventilation, and vacuuming. Comply with certain limitations on housekeeping practices, such as using wet sweeping, HEPA-filtered vacuuming, or other methods designed to reduce employee exposure when feasible.According to OSHA, the Silica Rule establishes a permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica of 50 μg/m3 as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) in all industries covered by the rule.Develop a written exposure control plan.Make medical screening available to employees who are required to use a respirator more than 30 or more days per year.The rule also contains several ancillary requirements. Based on the results of the exposure assessments, the employer must implement controls to reduce respirable silica to the lowest feasible level and provide employees with respirators compliant with federal regulations. In the alternative, an employer may comply by completing “exposure assessments,” of employees above the action level of 25 micrograms per cubic meter, expressed as an eight-hour TWA.Įmployers choosing the “exposure assessment” option may meet their obligations by (1) using air monitoring data or objective data to characterize and monitor employee exposures to ensure compliance or (2) adopting a scheduled monitoring procedure to identify and periodically evaluate the exposure of employees who may be above the action limit of 25 micrograms per cubic meter when measured as an eight-hour TWA. Thus, an employer may be able to fully comply with the rule by implementing dust control measures such as water dust suppression or vacuum dust collection meeting the particular requirements for the activity. First, for certain listed tasks involving materials containing crystalline silica, the employer may comply by fully and properly implementing required engineering and work practice controls and respiratory protection as prescribed by Table 1 of the rule. This new uniform numeric-value standard replaces a prior formula-based standard that varied depending on the composition of silica present and often permitted higher exposures.Įmployers subject to the construction rule may comply in one of two ways. The rule significantly lowers the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable silica dust in the construction industry, imposing a 50 microgram per cubic meter exposure limit, calculated as an eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA). He provided a newsletter that further explained:

On October 20, Attorney Chuck Palmer, Michael Best law firm, discussed the legal requirements of the new OSHA silica standards that went into effect September 23, 2017.

Osha silica standard