Silica Standard T
What to Know About the
If enforced, the new silica standard will challenge the metalcasting
industry. Compliance will be important for facilities around the country. KAY ROWNTREE, INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE SCIENCES LLC, WATERFORD, WISCONSIN
he revised crystalline silica rule is being challenged in court. Te recent Presiden- tial election could change
its scope. All requirements don’t have to be met until the middle of 2018. Tat doesn’t mean metalcasters should take it easy and put off their preparations. In March, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its long-anticipated respi-
rable crystalline silica rule. Proposed in 2013, the new rule aims to reduce the permissible exposure limit (PEL) to silica in half, from 100 µg (micro- grams)/cu.m to 50 µg/cu.m. Te rule looks to bring an action level of 25 units over an eight-hour period. The new rule was set to be
effective on June 23, 2016, and all requirements of the rule must be met by June 23, 2018. Indeed, the rule will challenge the
metalcasting industry if it’s enforced as OSHA intended, but there are ways for facilities to comply. Plenty of things must be known in order to be up to the standard.
Assessment To start, the PEL and action level
are based on an 8-hour time weighted averages. No adjustment is required for shifts longer than 8 hours, and for longer shifts, the worst 8 hours of exposure should be sampled. Te limits are based on the gravimetric measurement of respirable crystalline silica and only respirable sampling methods are to be used. Facilities must assess the exposures
All requirements of the new silica standard won’t have to be met until 2018, but metalcasters should still prepare for compliance.
32 | MODERN CASTING December 2016
for any employee reasonably expected to be over the action level, via either a performance option or a scheduled monitoring option. With the perfor- mance option, there is a burden to make sure employers accurately char- acterize the exposures if they decide not to sample all employees poten- tially exposed above the action level. Scheduled monitoring entails initial testing that reflects a worker’s per- sonal breathing zone time weighted averages exposures for each shift and for each job classification in each area. Te tests must be done when work begins. Te periodic testing is
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