Finding of Emergency Section 5204 , Occupational Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica Business Meeting : December 14 , 2023 Page 16 of 36
is that California is facing a statewide epidemic of silicosis among artificial stone fabrication workers .
Because the existing section 5204 was promulgated based on the experience of silicosis in traditional industries such as mining , quarrying and sandblasting , it is not well calibrated to the small businesses and working conditions that characterize California ’ s artificial stone fabrication industry today . Section 5204 was designed as a performance-based standard that is most applicable to large , well-resourced employers who are able to conduct relatively sophisticated exposure assessments and implement protective measures based on the findings of those assessments . In Cal / OSHA ’ s experience , the current regulation is inefficient and difficult to enforce , and in many cases has resulted in Cal / OSHA being unable to require appropriate silica controls .
Accordingly , an emergency standard is needed that adopts the principles of section 5204 but applies them more prescriptively in today ’ s artificial stone fabrication industry . A proactive approach that requires safety measures when highly hazardous work is performed , regardless of an exposure assessment , will more effectively protect workers in the industry , will be simpler for employers to implement and will be more efficient for Cal / OSHA to enforce . At its most basic , this approach will make it clear to employers that providing effective RCS exposure controls is integral to the business of opening and operating an artificial stone fabrication shop .
In addition , in order to prevent the potential substitution of artificial stone with natural stone that might contain hazardous levels of silica , the emergency standard proposes to include natural stone with a silica content of 10 % or more under the new protections proposed for employees who handle artificial stone . This action is based on evidence demonstrating that under certain conditions , silica exposures from natural stone can result in the rapid onset of silicosis that appears to match that of silicosis that results from exposures to artificial stone . As noted above , for example , a four-year follow-up study of 83 former sandblasters , from an initial worker population of 145 , found that about 6 % had died in the intervening four-year period , at an average age of 24 years . Among the 74 former sandblasters still alive and available for reexamination , the prevalence of silicosis had increased from 55 % to 96 %, despite short-term exposures and a disease latency of only four years . 54
54
Akgun M , et al . Silicosis Appears Inevitable . op . cit . https :// pubmed . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov / 25654743 /.