In-Depth Survey Report: Control of Silica Exposure in Construction Scabbling Concrete at Frank Messer and Sons Construction Company, Hebron, Kentucky

Details

• Personal Author:
  Echt, Alan S. ; Jones, Aaron L. ; Jones, Erica ; Sieber, W. Karl
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Description:
  Scabbling concrete involves dressing the surface of the concrete to remove surface imperfections or surface coatings. Analysis of a novel control designed and constructed by the site superintendent for use with a small, gasoline-powered, walk-behind scabbler showed that it was effective at reducing employee exposure to respirable dust and, should also be effective in reducing exposure to crystalline silica. The control consisted of a 15-inch spray bar made from 3/4-inch schedule 40 polyvinyl chloride pipe with 15 slots cut in it spaced 3/4 to I-inch apart. The spray bar was attached to a lifting handle on the front of the scabbler with hose clamps, and oriented with the slots facing downward, toward the work surface. An elbow connected the spray bar to a length of flexible hose mounted on the upright of the handle of the scabbler, with a valve mounted about midway down the handle. The hose mounted on the scabbler was fitted with a standard garden hose fitting to allow it to be connected to a water supply hose. An 80% reduction in mean exposure levels of respirable dust was found with the use of the water control, from 3.88 mg/m3 to 0.64 mg/m3. This difference was statistically significant at the p=0.05 level. The difference was detected with 50% power in the 10 pairs of samples using a standard two-group t-test for equality of means.
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Construction Materials Dust Engineering Environmental Monitoring Occupational Health Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Concretes Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Control-technology Engineering-controls Environmental-control-equipment Exposure-limits Grinding-equipment OSHA Region 4 Respirable-dust Silica-dusts Silicosis

  More +
• Series:
  Engineering and Physical Hazards Survey Reports
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHEPHB24715d
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Name as Subject:
  Frank Messer and Sons Construction Company
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; Hebron (KY) ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology ; EPHB - Engineering and Physical Hazards Branch
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022239
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2003-102265
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, EPHB 247-15d, 2002 Apr ; :1-10
• CAS Registry Number:
  Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9) ; Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1771 - Concrete work - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8a35a3bc806baed77eb31221728dc1573ce5035d610f368f9c161fd934a9aae30c94fdc566f3d957ff0355db749b0cdd240e3aa73dd45ff91b3969494e0ead60
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/174901/cdc_174901_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 270.98 KB ]