Exposure Measure Amount Compare to Limit Protection

Determining Silica Exposure To determine the presence of silica in your workplace you should: Identify factors that indicate probable use of silica Check product labels Check the Material Safety Data Sheets If the employer suspects that silica is a hazard at the workplace, even though it is not known for sure, he/she is still required by OSHA to communicate this potential hazard to all employees. Remember: There is potential for danger ONLY when crystalline silica particles are in the air.  There may be materials that contain silica but if the operations on those materials do not generate dust, there is little chance of inhaling the silica.  Likewise, there may be silica particles in the air even though you don't see any dust. Probable Use of Silica   If you can answer YES to any of these, then it is likely that Silica is used at your work and that it is airborne.   Industry Do you work in any of these?   Occupations Are you one of these? Materials Are any of these involved? Abrasive blasting Asphalt pavement manufacturing Blast furnaces Cement manufacturing Ceramics, clay, and pottery Concrete mixing Concrete tunneling Construction (mainly cement, concrete work) Demolition Electronics industry Foundry industry: grinding, molding, shakeout, core room (High Risk) Hand molding, casting, and forming Jack hammer operations Manufacturing abrasives, paints, soaps, and glass Mining Repair or replacement of linings of rotary kilns and cupola furnaces Rolling and finishing mills Sandblasting (High Risk) Setting, laying, and repairing railroad track Steelwork Stone, brick, and concrete block cutting, blasting, chipping, grinding, and sawing Tunneling operations Brickmason/stonemason Construction laborer Crane and tower operator Crushing and grinding machine operator Furnace, kiln, non-food oven operator Grinding, abrading, buffing, and polishing machine operator Hand molder/shaper (not jeweler) Heavy-equipment mechanic Janitor or cleaner Machinist Metals/plastics machine operator Molding and casting machine operator Mining machine operator Miscellaneous material moving equipment operator Millwright Operating engineer Painter who sandblasts (High Risk) Production supervisor Rock driller (High Risk) Roof bolter (High Risk) Sandblaster (High Risk) Steelworker Welder/cutter See how the chance of death is increased according to occupation Abrasives Coal Dust Concrete Dirt Filter Aids Graphite, natural Mica Mineral Products Paints Pavement Perlite Plant Materials Plastic Fillers Polishing Compounds Portland Cement Sands Silicates Slag Soapstone Soil Labels A product that contains silica should have a label that says so.   The machines used in the operations may also be labeled with warning signs indicating that silica is being used.   Manufacturer's responsibility:  attach a label to all products that contain more than 0.1% silica that may be hazardous when used. Employer's responsibility:  ensure that the label is not removed or defaced. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) These sheets contain data for all materials or products containing hazardous substances that are used at a business in quantities greater than what a consumer would use.   If a material or product contains crystalline silica in quantities greater than 0.1%, there must be a safety data sheet for it.   Manufacturer's responsibility:  shall obtain or develop a safety data sheet for each hazardous chemical they produce or import.   Employer's responsibility:  ensure access to safety data sheets for all hazardous materials at the workplace. Apply Your Knowledge Go on to Measure the amount of Silica