Caution: dust hazard

Dust on the jobsite is a fact of life — and death — it’s all a matter of exposure.

But not all dust is created equal, according to Lee Senter, acting president of the Canadian Flooring, Cleaning and Restoration Association (CFCRA). “Larger particles can be a nuisance, such as the dust from cutting drywall,” he says. “But you should be wearing an N95 mask at minimum to cut down the effects — otherwise you will be having ugly ‘nasal secretions’ for the next several days.” Senter is also president of Senterprises, a flooring restoration and inspection group of companies.

Beyond boogers, the main health hazard is from silica dust generated by cutting and grinding natural stone and tile products. With constant exposure and no safety protocols in place, the fatal, incurable disease of silicosis is what awaits fabricators, installers and demolition workers.

Luckily there are many ways to avoid this fate. Trade associations, tool manufacturers and government agencies all provide safe work guidelines and procedures designed to protect workers from their dusty environment — and workers from themselves.

“When you have supervisors on site, they are supposed to be aware of the hazards that might be present in the workplace,” Senter says. “They should ensure the workers know of the hazards, know how to minimize those hazards and make sure the personal protective equipment (PPE) issued to them are being used.”

The last point is probably the biggest problem, he adds, especially when the supervisor leaves. “You’ve got these guys that have been doing it 30 years, they’re left out on their own and they just go ahead and do it the way they’re always done it.”

Mike Loflin, industry research & information manager at Oberlin, Ohio-based MIA+BSI: The Natural Stone Institute, is also amazed that people still take chances. “You go to shops and they just open the front door and the back door and they count on Mother Nature to blow the breeze through. Those shops are fading away but I have seen them. You would think people would know better — I don’t know if its machismo or stupidity or complacency.”

Understanding the materials that you are handling is important, according to Loflin. “Marble is a calcite. It is said that the dust from cutting marble is classified as a nuisance dust, so take general precautions when you cut that stone or limestone.”

But for granite, quartzite and slate you need to be careful, he advises. “Granite and quartzite are silica-producing materials which leads to silicosis.”

According to Dr. Basil Varkey in Medscape, “Silicosis has been a human scourge since antiquity. In 1705, Ramazzini cited Diembrock’s description of the lungs of stonecutters ‘in whom he found heaps of sand that, in running the knife through the pulmonary vesicles, he thought he was cutting through some sandy body.’ In 1870, Visconti introduced the term silicosis, derived from Latin silex, or flint.”

“There is no cure for it once it has started,” Loflin says, “the fibres and particles are very, very small.” When inhaled, the particles usually get caught in the lungs and cannot be exhaled. Marble and limestone particles are formed differently, he explains. They are not elongated and hooked. “One can blow one’s nose or cough up the accumulation of that kind of dust.”

That silica is lethal and has been around for a very long time is well established, with miners and quarry workers being very susceptible, according to Loflin. “Now fast forward and here we are in 2017. Manufacturers are making cutting tools with vacuum attachments. There are attachments to that that keep exposure levels down to keep the operator safe.”

Ted Skaff, vice president of marketing at Marietta, Ga.-based Lackmond Products and the current chair of the MIA+BSI safety committee, thinks that regulatory crack downs from bodies such as OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) in the U.S. are helping to drive technology from manufacturers.

“There are more and more sophisticated dry cutting dust containment and water filtration systems for marble and granite applications now,” Skaff says. “The cutting and shaping of the slab is always done wet — that minimizes the dust — then the slurry from the wet cutting is run off from the filtration system into a safe reservoir. They’ve evolved over the years and are getting better and better.”

In the Canadian market, according to Senter, “some people say these precautions are overkill, but they are actually covered by the law in Ontario.” Each province has its own health and safety websites so local rules are easily accessible, he notes. When you are doing this job every day of your life, proper safeguards like engineering controls should be adhered to.

“The whole point behind health and safety is to identify a hazard,” says Senter. “If it does, you have to assess the risk involved. Based on that risk assessment — cutting stone, creating respirable silica — it’s important to know that in some provinces it is a regulated substance.”

As a trade association, MIA+BSI has resources available through its Natural Stone Institute University website. In the U.S., OSHA has all sorts of guides on silica, says Loflin, and is in the middle of trying to cut in half the exposure rate to silica. With many Canadian members, MIA+BSI pays attention to concerns and regulations north of the border.

“In Canada I have not yet seen the move to cut exposure,” says Loflin, “but you have the WHMIS program and I look at it from time to time, as well as the Ministry of Labour (in Ontario).

“Ultimately everyone wants safety for the operator — we do that when we keep the silica away from his or her lungs. How do we do that? Well, we either suck it away with a vacuum or wet it down or put a mask over the operators face so it can’t be inhaled.”

Senter says you should ask yourself: How are we going to minimize that risk and how are we going to make the site safe? “By following the hierarchy of controls. The number one control is to eliminate the hazard as much as possible, minimize it through engineering controls such as HEPA vacuums and air filtration devices, air scrubbers.

“By containing the area by putting plastic up so wherever you are doing this cutting that the dust doesn’t cross-contaminate the rest of the area. After that, institute proper work procedures that are helpful, such as wetting things down by using water saws.” Operators must use personal protective equipment like respirators, as well as eye protection, ear plugs and gloves, he adds.

Other safe work habits should come in to play, too. Loflin says “we tell people to wash their hands before eating lunch. Change your clothes before you go home if you can. You don’t want to take that stuff home to your spouse and kids. It seems to be an issue of common sense but there seems to be just so many times it seems to be 180 degrees from that.

“It’s complacency among workers or that you’re a wimp if you wear a mask. They don’t realize the damage that that particular dust can cause.”

Stefania Lombardo, occupational hygienist with Kempo Consulting in Mississauga, Ont., explains “the smaller you make the area, the less cleanup. Silica is a designated substance, just like lead is.” Provincial guidelines break down what to survey on a construction site and which PPEs are required.

“The Ministry of Labour (MOL) in Ontario breaks down the operations,” Lombardo says, “so whether you are doing blasting or hitting it with a sledge hammer, or using power tools, you are told what the level of airborne concentrations are based on those activities. So based on that level, this is what PPE you are supposed to wear.”

She points to Ontario MOL Regulation 490/09 for guidance on when to apply the regulation that pertains to restricted substances such as silica.

The Regulation applies, in part, to: every project and its owner; every constructor, employer and worker engaged in or on the project; the repair, alteration or maintenance of a building; every employer and worker involved in the repair, alteration or maintenance of the building and the owner of the building; and, every employer and every worker engaged in the demolition. This includes contractors and subcontractors who perform work for or supply services to the employer.

By way of contrast, the Regulation does not apply: to the owner of a private home that is occupied by the owner or the owner’s family; to the owner of a residential building that contains no more than four units, one of which is occupied by the registered owner or family of the registered owner; however, the Regulation does apply to constructors, employers and workers engaged in private construction projects and repair or maintenance of such buildings.

Loflin has had family tragically affected by dust in the workplace. “My coal miner grandfather died of black lung disease at 53 years old.” The problem all boils down to awareness and prevention. “It’s a teaching moment as my wife would say,” Loflin notes.

“Operators need to know that the dust they are generating is not healthy and is not dust like at a baseball or a soccer field. This dust has minerals in it that cannot be exhaled, it lodges in your lungs and that’s it. Silicosis could occur in a couple of years or it could be twenty years — but humans have an acute sense of denial where ‘it can’t happen to me.’

“I know what I’m doing. Grandma and grandpa lived to be 93…”