Crystalline Silica Information for NECA Contractors

Silica is one of the most abundant substances on earth and is most commonly found as sand or quartz. Silica is ubiquitous on construction sites by virtue of its presence in many commonly used construction materials and products such as concrete, bricks, stone, asphalt, tile, and countertops.

• Very jagged micro-sized crystallized glass type shards (Quartz, Cristobalite, Tridymite) The most common element on the earth’s surface.
• Extremely dangerous to lungs,
• Eventually fatal to humans upon continued, extended, uncontrolled ingestion.
• Sand + Heat = Glass = small micro bits = Crystalline Silica.
• Micro silica glass shards respiratory system tissue cutters

OSHA measures silica by Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL), which is the maximum amount of silica to which a worker may be exposed to during an 8-hour shift. The current PEL for silica exposure for the construction industry is 250 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

OSHA’s proposal reduces the PEL from 250 to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air. However, OSHA has not shown that the proposed PEL can be met by the construction industry in most operations most of the time.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a 93 percent drop in silica-related deaths between 1968 and 2007. If OSHA finalizes the proposal, the Agency will miss the opportunity to emphasize compliance of the current standard and to work with industry to improve awareness.

• OSHAs Public Information on Silica September 2017(PDF)
• AGC Silica TABLE 1 Associated General Contractors (PDF)
• NECA Silica - Understand the Requirements Webinar 7-27-17 (PDF)
• OSHA3902 Small Entity Compliance Guide Silica (PDF)
• Silica Written Exposure Control Plan for Safety Manual (DOCX)