October 2013
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) could impose new costs on metal casters and other manufacturers if it moves forward with new workplace exposure rules for crystalline silica, which gets into the air, in the case of foundries, when silica sand molds are broken in order to remove the cast metal part. The OSHA lists foundry workers as numbering the highest among any general industry category for being exposed to levels of crystalline silica above the current permissible exposure limit (PEL). And only the concrete products sector has more total workers exposed to crystalline silica.
The proposed rule would replace a 40-year-old
PEL of 100 micrograms with one set at 50 micrograms and an action level of 25
micrograms. The action level is the
standard’s trigger for increased industrial hygiene monitoring and initiation
of worker medical surveillance.
Groups such as the National
Association of Manufacturers say no new standard is needed because there has
been a 93 percent reduction in silicosis mortality
from 1968 to 2002, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Silicosis, an incurable sometimes fatal lung disease, is the major
health effect caused by crystalline silica exposure.
The costs for all companies subject to the
new standard, even those with admirably low current exposure limits, might be
substantial given the exposure monitoring, medical monitoring and training
costs. The OSHA estimates those to be $630 million for all sectors, total, on
an annual, recurring basis. Amanda Wood, Director, Labor and Employment Policy,
NAM, says industry estimates are $5 billion. Given the costs of compliance that all companies would face, Wood
says the OSHA ought to focus on companies violating the current standard.
The yawning difference between the OSHA
and industry cost estimates may be because the OSHA says the provisions of the proposed rule "are
similar to industry consensus standards that many responsible employers have
been using for years, and the technology to better protect workers is already
widely available."
