It’s been many years in the making, but the days of seeing silica dust clouds hanging in the air at construction sites have come to an end. After years of planning, hosting meetings, and setting/rescheduling implementation dates, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) new standard on exposure limitations to respirable crystalline silica dust took effect on September 23, 2017. The big question now is how aggressive will OSHA get in enforcing these new exposure limits on job sites across the country?
For most contracting companies, these new requirements come as no surprise. They’ve been tracking OSHA’s progress on its rulemaking and preparing for this day for quite a while. The electrical contractors I’ve spoken with have been modifying their safety programs and training employees for months — even years, in some cases — to make sure their companies comply with the new regulations. But they can’t do this alone. They need the support of product manufacturers to pull this off.
One key group that’s been instrumental in helping contractors prepare for this day is the tool manufacturers. Without the research and development of new tools and accessories that help capture and limit the dust created during construction activities, there would be no way to appreciably reduce the silica dust exposure levels on job sites.
I’m fortunate enough to see this work being done firsthand, as many of the major tool manufacturers host annual new product innovation events for editors like me. These events not only offer me a sneak peek at the new tools to be launched in the coming months, but they also show the R&D efforts that go into the development of these tools.
Over the last two to three years, I’ve witnessed the hard work being done to develop solutions that meet the new OSHA regulations while striving to keep field workers as productive as possible. For example, hollow drill bits can be connected to a vacuum system to extract dust during drilling operations. Special head and shroud attachments placed on the tool or around the hole can also effectively capture the dust when used with a vacuum system. And on-board dust capture systems (no hose or vacuum required) are now available for all types of power drills.
For a more detailed review of the new OSHA silica standard and how some electrical contractors have geared up to meet this new regulation, turn to this month’s cover story by Tom Zind, “New Silica Rule Hammer Comes Down.” The story offers an overview of the new requirements, reviews tool issues, presents some routes to compliance, and discusses concerns in monitoring work activities to remain in compliance with the new standard.