Mining-sector employers and unions alike are backing the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) newly tightened standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS), but both say implementation remains a key question, with one union urging strict enforcement while a trade group says the agency should align its approach with OSHA’s own silica rule.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has released its final update to 50-year-old standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS), with more stringent reporting and monitoring mandates compared to a 2023 proposal, although it also extends compliance deadlines for operators, particularly those at smaller mines.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) final rule updating 50-year-old standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) has cleared White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review, keeping it on track for the agency’s planned April release following years of pressure by unions and their allies.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has sent its final rule updating the 50-year-old standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for interagency review, advancing a long-delayed rulemaking process and teeing up a last round of debate on the policy.
Amid rising illness and deaths, California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board has adopted an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for crystalline silica exposure in “engineered stone fabrication shops,” rejecting calls by industry representatives to consider amendments that would ease some of the rule’s stringent new worker-safety requirements.
OSHA is launching a new initiative to bolster enforcement and compliance with its rules governing respirable crystalline silica (RCS) to protect workers in the engineered stone fabrication and installation industries by prioritizing federal inspections of worksites where workers are exposed to high levels of silica dust.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials have released a revised emergency temporary standard (ETS) for crystalline silica exposure in “engineered stone fabrication shops,” aiming to approve the rule in December amid what they say is a “crisis” in which a growing number of workers are developing advanced silicosis, a serious lung disease.
California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board has approved a petition asking the agency to develop an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from exposure to crystalline silica in “engineered stone fabrication shops,” citing a current “crisis” where a growing number of workers are developing advanced silicosis, a serious lung disease.
OSHA recently posted a slew of new regulatory interpretation letters offering responses to employers’ and industry professionals’ questions on matters such as the categories of chemicals considered “associated with” formaldehyde gas, occupational noise exposure standards, shipment of hazardous materials and silica dust exposure control methods.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will publish its long-awaited proposed update to its 50-year-old standards for silica dust in the July 13 Federal Register, starting a 45-day public comment period and setting dates for two in-person public hearings.