I applaud Peter Stafford’s efforts to raise industry awareness of the potential dangers of respirable crystalline silica and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proposal to dramatically lower silica exposure levels (“Construction health hazard: silica dust,” February 2014 Plumbing & Mechanical). Unmentioned, however, are the costs and technical obstacles presented by the new standard in the efforts to reduce the “nearly 700 workers per year from deaths related to silica exposure on the job.”
As chair of the American Foundry Society’s Government Affairs Committee, I have been involved with submitting comprehensive comments to OSHA on its proposal to revise the current standard — one of the most comprehensive rulemakings the agency has ever undertaken with significant economic consequences to the foundry and construction industries.