Safe Work Australia – Crystalline Silica Exposure Standard
Workplace dust is an area of interest for many of our members, so I am writing to share what we know and the AIOH response to recent developments in government policy on respirable crystalline silica dust.
• AIOH vision is a healthy working environment for all, and to this end, AIOH has consistently supported the National Silicosis Prevention Strategy because we recognise that irreversible harm from silicosis is preventable.
• Safe Work Australia (SWA), who is charged with setting our country’s national policy on Workplace Exposure Standards (WES) in order to promote healthier, safer and more productive workplaces. SWA takes input from commonwealth, state and territory, worker and employer representatives and yesterday SWA members determined that 0.025 mg/m3 is the appropriate WES for RCS, measured as a time weighted average (TWA) over 8 hours and to become effective within the 3-year transition period proposed for all other new and lowered WES .
• If enacted, it represents a halving of the RCS WES for the second time in 3 years.
• Occupational Hygienists now face the technical and practical challenges of supporting the transition to this lowered RCS WES as there are existing limitations with the measurability of silica dust at very low concentrations that need to be addressed.
• Several improvements to the current measurement and analysis techniques have been proposed including validation of the sampling equipment used; support for proficiency testing regimes and other QA/QC processes in the analytical laboratories; and a deeper understanding of any remaining uncertainty of sampling and analysis for silica at the lowered concentration. But these have not yet reached consensus sufficient to be reflected in occupational hygiene practice and body of knowledge.
• Workplaces and regulators will also need clear guidance on how enforcement of the lowered WES will be interpreted and how Persons in Charge of a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) can achieve silica exposure management of As So Far as is Reasonably Practicable.
• Occupational Hygienists are the scientists of workplace dust exposures and experts in how air monitoring for respirable crystalline silica can be accurately compared to any WES, so AIOH stands ready to support its members and stakeholders with these challenges.