Economist contrasts concrete pipe profitability with OSHA’s silica rule claims

Sources: American Chemistry Council, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

The American Concrete Pipe Association joined peers in the public comment period for OSHA’s proposed permissible exposure limit of respirable crystalline silica in General Industry and Construction, concluding it “is unnecessary (without sufficient verifiable data to support that an exposure problem exists), cost prohibitive, especially for small businesses (OSHA cost data is understated and outdated), and contrary to the intended purpose of protecting our workers.”

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Producers, associations implore OSHA to reconsider proposed silica rule

Sources: CP staff; Occupational Safety & Health Administration

Concrete, aggregate and cement interests are well represented in parties challenging the rationale, compliance costs and burdens—along with a timeline from announcement (August 28) to close of a four-month public comment period (February 11)—tied to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica.

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Industry panel: Silica rule compliance carries $8.6 billion price tag

Source: American Chemistry Council, Washington, D.C.

The American Chemistry Council Crystalline Silica Panel, whose 16 members include Lafarge North America, Vulcan Materials Co., James Hardie Building Products and the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, resolutely questions the basis for the OSHA-proposed halving of the permissible exposure limit (PEL) to respirable crystalline silica.

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Silo Engulfment Fatality Draws Osha-Proposed $55K Penalty

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Cincinnati Area Office cited Monroe, Ohio-based Central Ready Mix, LLC for 10 serious safety violations after an employee at the company’s Middletown, Ohio, plant was fatally engulfed while breaking fly ash clumps clogging a silo. After attempts to dislodge clumps with a metal bar and air hose failed, OSHA officials note, the employee climbed into the silo, without a harness and lanyard, and devoted several hours to clearing the vessel before being engulfed.

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Hazard Communication Plan takes hold; OSHA extends silica rule comment period

Effective this month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) requires chemical manufacturers, distributors or importers (including ready mixed concrete producers) to adjust their Hazard Communication Plan. The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association notes specifically that member producers need to change their Material Safety Data Sheets or MSDS’s to a new 16-part format Safety Data Sheet (SDS).

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Fall protection, hazard communication top OSHA violations tally for FY2013

Fall Protection once again leads the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s top 10 most-cited workplace safety violations, which the National Safety Council announced last month in Chicago during its 2013 Congress & Expo.

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NRMCA schedules OSHA Hazard Communication Standard webinar

Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s recently implemented Hazard Communication Standard requires concrete producers to transition existing Material Safety Data Sheets to a new 16-part Safety Data Sheet (SDS), change product labels and update staff training.

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