Tag: silica rule

Safety

OSHA’s new silica dust rule upheld in U.S. Court of Appeals

On December 22, 2017, a three-judge panel of the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected challenges to a 2016 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule toughening workers’ exposure levels for silica dust, Engineering News-Record reports. The panel said OSHA had met legal requirements for determining what standards are feasible, economically and […]

January 9, 2018

Gear

Casella’s new Apex2 dust pumps constantly monitor silica exposure

In preparation for upcoming federal rules to reduce worksite silica dust, Casella has introduced its latest dust-sampling pumps to monitor worker exposure to the harmful airborne substance. The pumps come in three models: Apex2, Apex2 Plus and Apex2 Pro. They are designed to monitor the amount of dust exposure facing individual workers on the job. […]

June 29, 2017

Safety

Silica rule controversy continues despite OSHA enforcement delay

Depending on whom you talk to in the construction, aggregates and paving industries, the three-month enforcement delay of federal silica dust rules is an opportunity to fine-tune the compliance guidelines, or it’s a minor speedbump toward excessive government regulation. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced April 6 it would delay the enforcement date […]

May 4, 2017

Home

ARTBA and AGC file suit to block OSHA’s revised crystalline silica rule

Two major industry associations, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the Louisiana chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on April 4th, challenging the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) revised crystalline silica rule. “OSHA’s silica regulation is based on flawed […]

April 6, 2016

Roadbuilding

AGC and NSSGA respond to OSHA’s revised silica exposure rule

On March 24, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez issued the final workplace exposure standard for crystalline silica, which will soon be published by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The new standard cuts the current permissible exposure limit (PEL) in half, reducing the exposure limit from 100 micrograms per cubic meter of air […]

April 1, 2016

Workforce

Aim is admirable, but OSHA’s proposed silica rule has 3 fatal flaws

Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began its public hearings on a proposed update to its 40-year-old rule on crystalline silica exposure. Those hearings will conclude Friday, April 4 and a final rule could follow in short order, possibly providing the basis for a future rulemaking from the Mine Safety and Health […]

March 24, 2014

Safety

OSHA proposes rule to replace “outdated” limits on worker inhalation of deadly silica dust

In order to update 40-year-old standards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced a rule with the goal of lowering worker exposure to crystalline silica. Exposure to the substance, composed of small particles about 100 times smaller than grains of sand, kills hundreds of workers each year and sickens thousands more. Exposure can cause the condition […]

August 28, 2013