Silica Permanent Rulemaking Advisory Committee Meeting
Title 8 Industrial Relations
General Industry Safety Orders
Section 5204 Occupational Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica.
Date and time: TBD
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) will convene an advisory committee to provide input to Cal/OSHA on a proposed permanent regulation to protect workers from silicosis and other diseases resulting from respirable crystalline silica exposures. The changes will incorporate the changes to emergency temporary regulation and add additional worker protections regarding medical surveillance and removal. The changes are necessary to stop a silicosis epidemic among workers in this industry.
The committee will consist of persons from employers covered by section 5204, trade associations, labor organizations, community groups, public agencies, and occupational medicine and disease experts. Members of the public who are not on the committee may observe the meeting and provide written comments at RS@dir.ca.gov. Please include in your comments the specific edits to section 5204 you are proposing.
Meeting Documents
Background Information
- Silicosis Among Immigrant Engineered Stone (Quartz) Countertop Fabrication Workers in California
- Elevated exposures to respirable crystalline silica among engineered stone fabrication workers in California, January 2019‑February 2020
- Radiographic Screening Reveals High Burden of Silicosis among Workers at an Engineered Stone Countertop Fabrication Facility in California
- Early Detection Methods for Silicosis in Australia and Internationally: A Review of the Literature
- X-rays 'fail to reliably detect' lung disease in stone workers: radiologists
- New Etiological Agents of Silicosis
- Stone Update Magazine. Avoiding the Silica Dust-up - Sometimes, it's more than throwing water on the problem
March 2024