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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established in 1971 following the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970. President Nixon signed a law with OSHA to protect the safety and health of workers as well as the American workers from the hazards of their work environments. Crystalline silica, or silica fume, is a significant health hazard in the workplace, especially in the construction industry. An official regulation on exposure to crystalline silica only came into effect recently (Schneider, 2016). According to risk assessments, lowering occupational exposure limits from the current to the proposed standard will cut silicosis and lung cancer mortality in half.
Much of the controversy surrounding these rule changes revolve around the economic cost of implementing these new standards and the charge of occupational health and safety to workers. Untold thousands, if not millions, of people may have died or will die in the coming days as a result of four decades of inaction on the exposure threshold. Lung cancer and silicosis are both dangerous conditions. Some companies, and the organizations they represent, argue that the time and effort required to fully adapt their employees and construction sites to the new standards would place an unreasonable and irrecoverable burden on their operations. In the short term, it would be the cost that would increase without worrying in the long run. Hence, ending up taking advantage of their budget. Other companies, it is argued, are more employee-centric, or large and successful enough to benefit from the rule, for obvious reasons.
According to Ali & Rawlins (2019), Corporate America’s positions on this matter are posted on the websites of various industry and non-industry groups. They are considered helpful in understanding different views on these new rules. A source, calling itself the building code monitoring website summed up the strong opposition of the NAHB to the new silica standards and identified several other companies and groups that were also opposed to the changes. On April 19, 2016, NAHB chairman, an Illinois developer and entrepreneur, testified before Congress that the new rules would not guarantee worker’s safety. It will also hurt the economy. He claims that the technological changes necessary to comply with the regulations are not economically viable for his company and would only increase housing costs by increasing its operating expenses.
In summary, while many industrial companies and their representative organizations have expressed strong opposition, these new silica standards were necessary and long overdue. Some companies and industries find the new silica standards as a great plan for the safety and health of workers, whereas others have withdrawn such stands. However, industry resistance and the unwillingness of legislators to act on such a costly matter of industry regulation has resulted in the new limit not being implemented to this day. Countless thousands or millions of people may have or will die in the next few days due to more than four decades of inactivity at the threshold of exposure (Ali & Rawlins, 2019). Lung cancer and silicosis are deadly diseases. Those who have suffered and continue to suffer due to their work environment in construction or related industries could have avoided their suffering. Better practices and stricter regulations regarding this dangerous respirable substance could have reduced the physical, emotional, and mental anguish of workers, as well as financial costs. As a result, OSHA may not have been effective in treating silica promptly.
References
Ali, R., & Rawlins, T. (2019). History and critical analysis of OSHA crystalline silica rules: A systematic review. JOURNAL of ENVIRONMENTAL and OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, 2019, 9(1), 1–12.
Schneider, S. (2016). Getting to Know OSHA’s New Silica Standard – LHSFNA. Www.lhsfna.org. Web.
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