Silicosis in Stone Fabrication Workers

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  California. Department of Public Health
• Description:
  Two California workers died in 2018 at the ages of 36 and 38 from severe silicosis. Both had worked at a stone fabrication company, polishing, dry cutting, and grinding slabs of engineered stone for countertops. Forty-three more employees of this company have so far been checked and almost 12% were found to also have silicosis. Silicosis is an incurable occupational lung disease caused by inhaling particles of respirable crystalline silica. Silicosis is preventable if stone fabrication and installation employers follow the comprehensive Cal/OSHA standard for silica and implement appropriate control measures to reduce dust levels. OHB has published guidance for countertop fabrication employers and workers to minimize exposure to silica dust when working with engineered stone. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Lung Diseases Mortality Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Quartz Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Crystalline Silica Dust Exposure Fatalities Lung Disease Occupational Exposure Quartz Dust Silicosis Stone Processing
• Publisher:
  California Department of Public Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Newsletter
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20059581
• Citation:
  Occupational Health Watch: November 2019. Richmond, CA: California Department of Public Health, 2019 Nov; :1-2
• Email:
  OHW@cdph.ca.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  Public Health Institute
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational Health Watch
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:abec4363b62fe4b59aa249ad548104a4b90b3938ff5f3a105b241c27c3f53fcc8bc449ea676ee02b888b101f5aa8eefcc82673f6173963abbd6227790f46bd9e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/223751/cdc_223751_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 596.96 KB ]