PAGE 2 | April 15, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
...Silica rule: Use water, vacuum, or a respirator
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140
done to control dust for each
task, like a vacuum hose or wa-
ter that goes directly to where
the silica dust is generated. If
employers follow those meth-
ods, they don’t have to collect
air samples, give employee
medical exams, or take other
measures.
“In the construction industry,
it’s very simple,” says Chris Tra-
han, top worker safety expert for
North America’s Building
Trades Unions. “You wet it
down. You suck it up. If you
control the dust at the source,
you’re done. You don’t have to
do anything else.”
Trahan, an industrial hygien-
ist and former OSHA compli-
ance officer, says the new silica
rule will make a huge impact on
the construction environment:
“You’re not going to walk down
the street and see plumes of dust
when construction workers are
cutting the curb or sidewalk.”
“We’re going to see a reduc-
tion in disease,” Trahan said.
“[Diseases of the lung] are a
huge issue for construction
workers, and our research has
shown over and over again that
silica is a major contributor.”
In construction, the unions
whose members are most af-
fected include Laborers, Oper-
ating Engineers, and Bricklayers
and Allied Crafts (BAC). Fit-
tingly, OSHA announced the
rule at BAC’s national training
center in Bowie, Maryland. But
plenty of other building trades
workers will benefit. On con-
struction sites, anyone who
breathes in the dust or sweeps it
up is at risk — not just the work-
ers who grind and cut.
“The biggest thing you’re go-
ing to see is less dust,” said
Bricklayers Executive Vice
President Gerard Scarano.
“You’re also going to find better
educated workers who know
more about the hazard and the
tools they need to use.”
The rule takes effect June 23,
but OSHA is giving employers
a grace period to figure out how
to comply. It won’t begin en-
forcing the rule for a year in the
construction industry, two years
in general industry, and five
years in the fracking industry.
But responsible employers
are already taking measures to
reduce silica. The Labor Press
will happily list the names of
any local union-signatory con-
tractor that is already complying
with the OSHA silica standard.
WHAT’S MISSING FROM THESE PICTURES? DUST. Bricklayers Local 1 ap-
prentice Krista Kiser, above, grinds a mortar joint with a vacuum attached.
Below, her fellow apprentice Tristan Burke operates a brick saw with a water
hose attachment. On Page 1, apprentice Robert Griggs operates the same
brick saw without the water — generating the dust that causes silicosis.