OSHA Crystalline Silica Rule: NOW IN EFFECT

Enforcement of the crystalline silica rule for construction began on September 23 even though OSHA has not conducted any significant outreach or provided meaningful guidance to employers.

By WSRCA.

The Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), which consists of 25 construction associations including NRCA and TRI, has been pursuing settlement negotiations with the U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL) in which OSHA’s silica rule for construction would still go into effect on Sept. 23, but with throttled-back enforcement while negotiations to make the rule more workable were underway.

Unfortunately, discussions broke down and DOL lawyers won’t agree to a joint delay of litigation brought by CISC and other plaintiffs before oral arguments take place Sept. 26.  DOL also won’t agree to further extend the Sept. 23 enforcement date or to adopt a flexible enforcement policy for silica due to opposition from the building trades union.  Therefore, enforcement of the rule for construction began on September 23 even though OSHA has not conducted any significant outreach or provided meaningful guidance to employers.  Furthermore, OSHA state plans such as California could be particularly aggressive in their enforcement of the silica rule for construction though Fed-OSHA has yet to release enforcement guidelines for inspectors.

CISC is urging its members (and WSRCA) to reach out to Members of Congress and ask that they call both Labor Secretary Alex Acosta and the White House to request that DOL reconsider its decision not to provide some temporary enforcement relief to employers in the construction industry (see attached talking points).  Temporary relief would be from citations if employers are demonstrating a good faith effort in trying to comply with the silica rule, similar to what OSHA has done in the past with the Confined Spaces rule.

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