Looks like a lot of people will have to address this in our industry so I figured I would pass this along
Construction - September 23, 2017. OSHA delayed enforcement in order to conduct additional outreach and provide educational materials and guidance for employer.
http://www.jondon.com/how-to/technical-tips/concrete-surface-prep/osha-pel-silica-standard.html
I can see regulations potentially affecting required PPE for some installers, like those sawing concrete for trenches, or maybe some sites where airborne dust is a hazard, but will typical installers be affected by this?
Even tasks working in attics and crawlspaces generally involve 'non-friable' insulation because mesothelioma is such a huge risk.
Where else might breathing silica dust be a hazard?
When you're mounting cameras/conduit to concrete, brick or block.
We are looking at adding these for our techs
One thing I really don't have a good sense of is if boring holes in concrete exceeds the upper exposure limit of the new regs, ie:
50 μm seems pretty small for sure, but what percentage of dry concrete volume is silica?
The regulations may also increase the practice of 'wet drilling/boring', which seems to create more hazards!
This link dives a little deeper: https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=1270
50 μm seems pretty small for sure, but what percentage of dry concrete volume is silica?
If
then at least 1 pound of crystalline silica per 100,000 pounds of concrete.
Or 4500 μm per pound of concrete.
*IANAC
Good grief, I'm giving you an upvote for the mental exercise involved here.
Now, figure up the volume of concrete removed in a boring action of a 1/2" hole through 10" or 12" of slab just for fun.
Volume of a Cylinder: V = π*(r^2)*h
Then if we project a tech does, oh, 10 of those in an eight hour shift, we can then extrapolate whether or not additional PPE or Silica dust remediation is required.
When you're mounting cameras/conduit to concrete, brick or block.
We're happy doing it the old way :)
I've had this tool attachment for a while and the included accessories fit on multiple brands which is nice. I like the tool and it minimizes dust, however it doesn't work when you need deep holes pas 5-6" or so and it has a max diameter limitation. For larger and deeper holes, it seems they make the 8 Gallon Vac and Suction Pad.
I see they also make vacuum bits, but I don't plan on changing all my bits out over time.
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