Report of the free silica and noise hazard to workers in sand and gravel crushers and hot mix plants.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Curtis EH
• Description:
  Worker exposures to dust and noise were surveyed at 22 gravel crushing and hot mix facilities (SIC-5211) in Idaho, New Mexico and Oregon during 1968 to 1969. The companies employed a total of 118 workers. Free silica (7631869) concentrations ranged from 0.2 to 59 percent. Personal air samples contained up to 108 milligrams per cubic meter of free silica. Noise levels were 90 to 105 decibels, and the maximum daily exposure was 1 to 8 hours. Forty three percent of the workers at the dry run crushers and 67 percent of the workers in the hot mix areas that did not have emission controls were exposed to twice the threshold limit values of silica and to excessive amounts of noise. The author recommends that hot mix and crusher facility workers wear ear muffs or plugs, and that dry crusher and hot mix facility workers wear approved free silica dust masks. Workers should be given periodic chest X-ray and audiometric examinations. Crusher operations should be water washed, and all heavy equipment and dozer operation workers should be required to wear ear protective devices.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Epidemiology Hunting Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Dust-analysis Dust-exposure Field-Study Gravel-processing Health-survey Hearing-protection IWS-30-22 Mineral-dusts NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Noise-levels Region-6 Silicates Worker-health

  More +
• Document Type:
  Text
• Place as Subject:
  Idaho ; New Mexico ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSCI - Division of Field Studies and Clinical Investigations
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00105836
• Citation:
  NIOSH 1969 Aug; :1-11
• CAS Registry Number:
  Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1969
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  5211 - Lumber and other building materials - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8e95c76d697bcba4448a05b068fda9834e35a75f8f38515ca87e3e323b8bd8383d67ea36ef6792ebfa0b4a89e37b20edf4cac0069bd4593103d943ad2122786f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/179007/cdc_179007_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 495.43 KB ]