Pit & Quarry, October 2017
DUST CONTROL around the drill bit with a low flow water spray to wet the dust at the discharge point from the dust collector or have employees operate from within an enclosed cab and use water for dust suppression on a drill bit No respiratory protection is required for employees in the vehicle mounted drilling rig for rock and concrete example but OSHA does specify which equipment and tasks require use of respiratory protection This entire effort ties back to keeping people safe Nasvik says There is no cure for silicosis or other silica related diseases so worker health depends on limiting exposure Although regulation is sometimes viewed as limiting productivity in this instance it can actually be enhanced The respirable silica dust regulations require use of already accepted control methods that make implementation easier In addition to engineering controls and respirators medical surveillance 964 million exposure assessments 962 million familiarization and training 959 million and written exposure plans 443 million are among the other big expenditures tied to compliance But OSHA estimates that nearly 87 billion in annualized benefits will be realized as a result of the costs employers take on Non compliance with OSHAs standard comes with a cost as well One serious violation could cost an employer up to 12675 while a willful violation can be assessed at up to 126749 per affected worker Abrams notes SO WHATS NEXT Although an MSHA rule on silica isnt immediately coming down the pike its likely only a matter of time before one does In construction and demolition theyre often in close proximity to neighbors Lewis says Aggregate operations are sometimes in the middle of nowhere some of them are in close proximity to neighbors but theyre not noticed as much With this coming into effect Im sure aggregate producers are going to have a little bit of a rude awakening he adds Theyre going to have to act fast Consider some key sources of dust at aggregate operations Dust is produced at primary crushers at conveyor belt transfer points and at load out areas Could these be among the areas targeted for future enforcement Silica is affecting a lot of different industries Lewis says If youre demolishing theres concrete in there If youre crushing stone thats silica So this is transcending a lot of industries P Q 30 PIT QUARRY October 2017 pitandquarry com
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
