The “Silicosis Among Immigrant Engineered Stone Countertop Fabrication Workers in California” study cited 52 male patients diagnosed with silicosis caused by occupational exposure to respirable silica dust from engineered stone. Of these patients, 20 suffered progressive massive fibrosis, 11 needed lung transplants and 10 died due to their exposures.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that OSHA launched a new initiative focused on enhancing enforcement and providing compliance assistance to protect workers in the engineered stone fabrication and installation industries.
This is on top of OSHA’s current National Emphasis Program for Respirable Crystalline Silica.
The new initiative will focus on:
- Enforcement efforts on industry employers to make sure they’re following required safety standards and providing workers with the protection required to keep them healthy
- Establishing procedures for prioritizing federal OSHA inspections to identify and ensure prompt abatement of hazards in covered industries where workers face exposure to high levels of silica dust.
This memorandum applies to Federal OSHA inspections in OSHA Regions 1 through 8, which are the regions with the highest concentration of establishments in the targeted industry sectors and must complete a minimum of five programmed inspections of establishments working with engineered stone, within 12 months from the date of this initiative.
Programmed inspections will be prioritized in the following two NAICS codes:
- 327991 – Cut Stone and Stone Product Manufacturing, and
- 423320 – Brick, Stone, and Related Construction Material Merchant Wholesalers.
Staying in compliance with silica testing OSHA rules
To ensure employers stay compliant with the stricter OSHA rules, the CNS Occupational Medicine team provides a comprehensive silica testing program that includes:
- Silica Medical History and Respirator Questionnaire
- Physical Exam with emphasis on the respiratory system
- Chest X-ray, with “B” reader TB skin test
- Respiratory Fit Test
- Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) (administered by a spirometry technician)
- Tuberculosis Testing (TB)
Stop waiting at hospitals or urgent care clinics. Our knowledgeable examiners are focused on best-in-class customer service when it comes to treating workers and employers to create long-term health and wellness.
Silica dust is a serious problem
Silica dust is a serious health and safety hazard in many different industries, such as construction, mining, stone cutting, manufacturing, and much more.
Crystalline silica is found commonly in sand, concrete, natural stone, artificial stone, mortar, and other materials, and generates respirable dust during cutting, grinding, and polishing processes.
[Related article: Learn more about crystalline silica and the OSHA testing requirements for employers.]
This means it is a health hazard for workers involved in manufacturing, finishing and installing natural and manufactured stone, which includes the man-made, engineered artificial or cultured types.
When inhaled, very small crystalline silica particles expose workers to the risk of silicosis, an incurable, progressively disabling and sometimes fatal lung disease. Unsafe silica dust exposure can also lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or kidney disease.
In 2018, there were an estimated 8,694 establishments and 96,366 employees in the stone fabrication industry in the United States, and a CDC study found eighteen cases of silicosis, including two fatalities, among engineered stone fabrication workers in four states. Several patients also had autoimmune disease and latent tuberculosis infection.
“Many workers in the engineered stone industry are experiencing illnesses so severe that they’re unable to breathe — much less work a full shift — because of their exposure to silica dust,” explained Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “Among them is a 27-year-old worker in California who went to an emergency room with shortness of breath in 2022 and whose lung biopsy later revealed he had silicosis. Since then, he has been on an oxygen tank and unable to support his wife and three young children financially.”
[Related Article: Mining Industry: Lower Silica Dust Exposure Limits and Updated Respirator Health is Coming]
For more information, contact us at 800.551.9816 or info@cnsoccmed.com.
