The long awaited "Silica standard" for workers has been proposed by OSHA. This post is shared from Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health.
Alan White is a 48-year-old foundry worker from Buffalo, N.Y. – he’s in the local steelworkers union, employed at the same foundry where his father also worked. He just became a grandfather. Three years ago, Alan went to a doctor who did a series of tests and told him that he had contracted silicosis, a debilitating lung disease he got from being exposed to silica at his job.
I met Alan last year on a trip he made to Washington to talk about how he got silicosis and the effects of the disease on his life. This is what he told me:
“I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I eat organic foods, I don’t eat much red meat. Now I know that my lifestyle probably won’t benefit my long-term health because of the devastating effects of silica exposure. As a new grandfather, I probably will not be able to run with my grandchild through the park as I had hoped. Even simple tasks like walking and talking on a cell phone are difficult and my outlook is downhill from here.”
Earlier today, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed a new rule to protect workers from silica exposure, and we’re reaching out to stakeholders for their help to develop a final rule with effective solutions that will protect workers like Alan.
Healthy lungs vs. silicosis
Crystalline silica kills hundreds of American workers and sickens thousands more each year. These very small silica dust particles are hazardous when workers breathe them in. They can cause silicosis – an incurable and progressive disease. Workers can be exposed to airborne silica dust from cutting, sawing, drilling and crushing concrete, brick, block and other stone products. They also can be exposed during operations that use sand products such as glass manufacturing, sand blasting and −as in Alan’s case −foundry work.
