Environmental, Health and Safety Committee - Safety Report

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a. Major provisions of the proposed rule for employers are:

i. Measure the amount of silica that workers are exposed to if it may be at or above an action level of 25 μg/m3 (micrograms of silica per cubic meter of air), averaged over an 8-hour day;

ii. Protect workers from respirable crystalline silica exposures above the PEL of 50 μg/m3, averaged over an 8-hour day;

iii. Limit workers' access to areas where they could be exposed above the PEL;

iv. Use dust controls to protect workers from silica exposures above the PEL;

v. Provide respirators to workers when dust controls cannot limit exposures to the PEL;

vi. Offer medical exams-including chest X-rays and lung function tests-every three years for workers exposed above the PEL for 30 or more days per year;

vii. Train workers on work operations that result in silica exposure and ways to limit exposure; and

viii. Keep records of workers' silica exposure and medical exams if above the 8 hour average and if exposed to greater than the PEL more than 30 days per year.

a. The facility is included in a TRI-covered North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code (see the TRI NAICS code webpage TRI NAICS code webpage  for help in identifying your NAICS code); and
b. The facility has 10 or more full-time employee equivalents (i.e., a total of 20,000 hours or greater; see 40 CFR 372.3); and
c. The facility manufactures (defined to include importing), processes or otherwise uses any EPCRA Section 313 chemical in quantities greater than the established threshold in the course of a calendar year. Typically it is the chemical composition of gasoline, diesel, AC oils and fuel oil used on an annual basis at a facility that will be used to assess reportability, as some of the constituents in these fuels or raw materials are among the chemicals of concern.