Elevated exposures to respirable crystalline silica among engineered stone fabrication workers in California, January 2019–February 2020

Autor: Krishna Surasi, Brittany Ballen, Justine L. Weinberg, Barbara L. Materna, Robert Harrison, Kristin J. Cummings, Amy Heinzerling
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 65:701-707
ISSN: 1097-0274
0271-3586
DOI: 10.1002/ajim.23416
Popis: Workers fabricating engineered stone face high risk for exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) and subsequent development of silicosis. In response, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) performed targeted enforcement inspections at engineered stone fabrication worksites. We investigated RCS exposures and employer adherence to Cal/OSHA's RCS and respiratory protection standards from these inspections to assess ongoing risk to stone fabrication workers.We extracted employee personal air sampling results from Cal/OSHA inspection files and calculated RCS exposures. Standards require that employers continue monitoring employee RCS exposures and perform medical surveillance when exposures are at or above the action level (AL; 25 μg/mWe analyzed RCS exposures for 152 employees at 47 workplaces. Thirty-eight (25%) employees had exposures above the PEL (median = 89.7 μg/mOur investigation demonstrates widespread RCS overexposure among workers and numerous employer Cal/OSHA standard violation citations. More enforcement and educational efforts could improve employer compliance with Cal/OSHA standards and inform employers and employees of the risks for RCS exposure and strategies for reducing exposure.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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