Sources: Occupational Safety & Health Administration; CP staff
OSHA’s final Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica rule covers more than two million workers, including 134,600 in the Commerce Department-designated (NACIS) manufacturing segments of Ready Mixed Concrete, Concrete Block & Brick, Concrete Pipe and Other Concrete Products. Within the 1,772-page rule, the agency calculates annualized compliance costs of $70 million-plus for producers in the four segments, and charts crystalline silica exposure by plant worker category.
| ANNUALIZED COMPLIANCE COSTS | |||||
| Segment | All Est. | Small | Smallest | ||
| (per SBA) | (<20 employees) | ||||
| Ready-Mix Concrete | $30,004,503 | $20,250,184 | $5,616,970 | ||
| Concrete Block & Brick | $7,020,737 | $4,550,565 | $1,383,138 | ||
| Concrete Pipe | $3,810,088 | $1,900,067 | $336,697 | ||
| Other Concrete Products | $20,878,235 | $14,539,705 | $4,568,859 | ||
| Notes: In descending order, segments reflect Commerce Department’s NAICS 327320, 3273331, 327332 and 327390 codes. Small column reflects companies with 500 or fewer payrolls, as designated by the U.S. Small Business Administration for the four Concrete segments. | |||||
| CONCRETE PRODUCTS PLANT WORKER EXPOSURE LEVELS | |||||
| Crystalline silica | < 25µg/m3 | 25-50µg/m3 | 50-100µg/m3 | 100-250µg/m3 | > 250µg/m3 |
| Total | 63.00% | 11.00% | 9.60% | 9.60% | 6.80% |
| Abrasive blasting operator | 11.80% | 5.90% | 23.50% | 23.50% | 35.30% |
| Finishing operator | 52.00% | 18.00% | 8.00% | 12.00% | 10.00% |
| Forming line operator | 86.20% | 6.20% | 6.20% | 1.50% | – |
| Material handler | 56.50% | 17.40% | 13.00% | 8.70% | 4.30% |
| Mixer operator | 74.30% | 5.70% | 2.90% | 14.30% | 2.90% |
| Packaging operator | 33.30% | – | 33.30% | 16.70% | 16.70% |
| Note: OSHA standard measures silica exposure as a weighted average of micrograms (µg) per cubic meter over eight-hour period | |||||
| READY MIXED CONCRETE PLANT WORKER EXPOSURE LEVELS | |||||
| Crystalline silica | < 25µg/m3 | 25-50µg/m3 | 50-100µg/m3 | 100-250µg/m3 | > 250µg/m3 |
| Total | 69.70% | 6.10% | 12.10% | 6.10% | 6.10% |
| Batch operator | 87.50% | – | 12.50% | – | – |
| Maintenance operator | 60.00% | 20.00% | 20.00% | – | 0.00% |
| Material handler | 69.20% | 7.70% | 15.40% | 7.70% | 0.00% |
| Quality control technician | 100.00% | – | – | – | – |
| Truck driver | – | – | – | 33.30% | 67.70% |
| Note: OSHA standard measures exposure as a weighted average of silica micrograms (µg) per cubic meter over eight-hour period | |||||