Preventing silicosis and deaths in construction workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Groce D ; Linch KD ; Parker J
• Description:
  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) requests assistance in controlling exposures to respirable crystalline silica in construction workers. In addition to traditional crystalline silica exposure settings, such as rock drilling and sandblasting, construction workers are involved in a number of activities in which building materials containing crystalline silica are dispersed as fine airborne particulate, that can result in both direct worker exposure and "bystander" worker exposure. NIOSH has received reports of silicosis-related deaths in young construction workers, including a 47 year-old West Virginia rock driller, 37 and 39 year-old construction painters in Ohio, a 41 year-old worker in Indiana, and a 44 year-old construction laborer in North Carolina. NIOSH has observed work sites and measured overexposures in respirable crystalline silica in the following operations: drilling concrete (0.81 mg/m3 for 212 minutes), cutting pavement (1.64 mg/m3 for 45 minutes), cutting concrete floors (14.2 mg/ m3 for 350 minutes outside of a disposable respirator), abrasive blasting (0.68 mg/m3 for 60 minutes inside a blasting hood and 1.83 mg/m3 outside), and drilling rock (0.80 mg/m for 324 minutes). NIOSH has also observed adequate work site controls during rock drilling and concrete cutting during which overexposures were not detected. At construction site visits, NIOSH has observed a general lack of awareness concerning the potential hazards of respirable silica exposures, as well as inadequate or inappropriate use of engineering controls and respiratory protection practices. In view of existing environmental data and reports of sentinel health events, strategies need to be developed to reduce silica exposures in the construction industry. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Aluminum Silicates Construction Industry Dust Irritants Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Silicon Dioxide

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-dusts Airborne-particles Construction Construction-workers Exposure-levels Exposure-limits Particulates Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-protection Sand-blasting Silica-dusts Silicates Silicosis

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• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  15
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041263
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 19-23, 1997, Dallas, Texas. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 1997 May; :15
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 19-23, 1997, Dallas, Texas
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6c0fb6b7950d5de6efafa28028df30df598bdc42057ba192461d2c38285c0d654e9be45ca17c19110b99acb10c97dd2c1ea9852a6e66a24260d4a04dae79f5da
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193868/cdc_193868_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 466.19 KB ]