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OSHA: Employers showing ‘good faith’ will get more time to comply with silica standard

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Photo: Alex Potemkin/iStockphoto

Washington – Employers who are found to be acting in “good faith” will have an additional 30 days to comply with OSHA’s Respirable Crystalline Silica in Construction Standard, according to a Sept. 20 memorandum from the agency. The standard is set to go into effect Sept. 23 after a three-month delay.

In the memo sent to regional administrators, OSHA Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Galassi wrote that employers who are making attempts to comply with the new regulations will receive assistance and outreach.

“Given the novelty of the Table 1 approach, OSHA will pay particular attention to assisting employers in fully and properly implementing the controls in the table. OSHA will assist employers who are making good faith efforts to meet the new requirements to assure understanding and compliance,” the memo states.

However, employers who are not making strides to comply will undergo air monitoring and may receive citations, Galassi wrote. He added that OSHA has created and will disseminate provisional inspection and citation guidelines within 30 days.

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Saisenthil
September 26, 2017
Wonderful I like it.

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Mike
October 12, 2017
Hello, Confused? Is the Silica Standard now in-place as of Sept. 23rd 2017? Sounds like OSHA is giving additional good faith 30 day before enforcement? Enforcement will go into 100% as of Oct. 23rd 2017? Mike

Safety+Health magazine
October 12, 2017
Mike -- Thanks for your comment. From the OSHA website: “OSHA began enforcement of the respirable crystalline silica standard for construction on September 23rd, while offering compliance assistance to employers making good faith efforts to comply during the first 30 days.” https://www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/silicacrystalline/

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Safety+Health magazine
October 12, 2017
Hi again, Mike. The following is from a memo from OSHA Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Galassi, in case it's helpful: "The Respirable Crystalline Silica construction standard, 29 CFR § 1926.1153, becomes enforceable on September 23, 2017. The standard establishes a new 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) of 50 µg/m3, an action level (AL) of 25 µg/m3, and a host of ancillary requirements. During the first 30 days of enforcement, OSHA will carefully evaluate good faith efforts taken by employers in their attempts to meet the new construction silica standard. OSHA will render compliance assistance and outreach to assure that covered employers are fully and properly complying with its requirements. Given the novelty of the Table 1 approach, OSHA will pay particular attention to assisting employers in fully and properly implementing the controls in the table. OSHA will assist employers who are making good faith efforts to meet the new requirements to assure understanding and compliance."