Silica safety requirements are a big deal. There are many reasons why OSHA is cracking down on these standards, and it’s important that your employees understand why silica safety is important. Share these 7 facts your employees need to know about silica dust so that silica dust exposure can become a problem of the past.
Though the number of deaths caused by silica dust has greatly declined in the past 50 years, the risk hasn’t yet been eliminated. In 2010, there were 101 fatalities due to respirable crystalline silica dust exposure (source).
Some workers with intense exposure to silica dust can show symptoms of silicosis in less than a year. For many, though, symptoms of silicosis won’t appear until after many years of exposure (source).
Silica dust can be harmful in large doses or in small quantities over a very long period of time. That’s why it’s so important to regulate the exposure at all times—to prevent the escalation of these small exposures and the eventual risk of disease.
Water keeps the silica from becoming respirable particles in the air. Dry sweeping, using fans, and blowing compressed air in an area with silica dust increases the amount of dust particles in the air and should be avoided.
Besides using water, other great ways to reduce silica dust exposure in the workplace are to isolate the dust and ventilate the area. By using exhaust fans and only working with silica-containing materials in confined areas, the dust can’t spread through the workplace into areas without safety precautions.
If the Table 1 standards require an employee to wear a respirator for 30 or more days per year, the employer must be offer medical exams every 3 years per OSHA requirements. (source).
Silica dust exposure can cause permanent damage and can even result in death. There is no known cure for silicosis, so the best option is to take preventative measures to avoid harm.