On December 29, 2023, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board instituted an emergency regulation to address occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica. This regulation addressed additional...more
Introduction: Understanding the New Regulations on Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a human carcinogen. ...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Denver Regional Office has announced the rollout of a “Regional Emphasis Program” dedicated to the reduction of incidents of workplace illness related to silica....more
For employers concerned about how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been enforcing its Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for General Industry, the agency’s enforcement data for the standard’s...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Seyfarth Shaw’s OSHA/MSHA group is at the ABA’s Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee Midwinter Meeting this week. Today, we heard some introductory remarks from the Solicitor of Labor, a panel who...more
For construction employers anxious over how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and state plan states are enforcing the Respirable Crystalline Silica in Construction Standard, the last two calendar years...more
Last week, OSHA began a potential rulemaking process to expand what some might consider exceptions to the 2016 silica rule in construction. Here’s what we know… On July 29th, OSHA submitted to the Office of Information...more
On July 29th OSHA submitted a draft Request for Information (RFI) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding Table 1 in OSHA’s construction standard for silica. If approved by OMB, OSHA intends to issue the RFI in...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Seyfarth Shaw’s OSHA/MSHA group is at the ABA’s Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee Midwinter Meeting this week....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA has recently issued a Frequently Asked Questions for General Industry for the Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard. We had noted previously in the blog that most of the provisions of the...more
On January 22, 2019, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to provide guidance to general industry employers on OSHA’s final rule regulating occupational exposure...more
In March 2016, OSHA published its standards for respirable crystalline silica in general industry/maritime (29 C.F.R. § 1910.1053) and in construction (§ 1926.1153), both of which have been phased in. ...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a set of 53 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to provide guidance to employers and employees regarding OSHA’s respirable crystalline silica standard for...more
Workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica (breathable silica dust) are at an increased risk for developing lung cancer, silicosis, incurable lung disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Crystalline...more
On June 23, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) implemented one of the final legs of a new rule limiting worker exposure to crystalline silica (or simply “silica”). ...more
On June 23, 2018, the Department of Labor will begin enforcing a new crystalline silica standard that was originally proposed on June 23, 2016. Construction employers have been required to comply with the crystalline silica...more
OSHA’s new final silica rule that dramatically reduces allowable exposures to respirable crystalline silica takes effect this week for most employers. In particular, the rule kicks in on June 23, 2018 for employers in general...more
OSHA has just released a Memorandum on the Enforcement Launch for the Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard in General Industry and Maritime rules....more
The silica standard for construction came into effect last year, on September 23, 2017, whereas most provisions of the silica rule as it pertains to general industry and maritime (29 CFR § 1910.1053) take effect this month,...more
In 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced new respiratory silica exposure levels that lowered the action level for exposure to 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air. The maximum permissible exposure...more
For construction employers facing uncertainty on exactly how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is enforcing the new silica standard in Construction, we now have a little bit of data that helps shed some...more
With the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) silica standard already in effect for the construction industry and about to go into effect in June of 2018 for general industry, many employers are anxious...more
A recent federal appeals court decision rejected a challenge to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s new rule for respirable crystalline silica (silica) exposure in the construction industry (the Silica Rule),...more
Nearly 2.3 million people in the United States work in jobs that expose them to silica. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) claims that more than 100,000 of those workers are engaged in “high risk jobs such...more
On December 22, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a unanimous opinion upholding most of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) 2016 revised workplace standard for...more