Silica Hub - Resources for Senior Leaders

Silica Dust Resources for Senior Leaders

As a director or senior leader in your organisation, you are responsible for legal compliance, risk management, employee welfare, and good business governance.

Respirable Crystaline Silica Dust (RCS) is being called "the next asbestos", and it is a hazard you must ensure your employees are protected against.

This page uses the 'RACE' framework to explain what your responsibilities are in relation to RCS.

Develop an RCS Policy/ Standard
It is important for senior leaders to set the expected standard. This ensures consistency, accountability, productivity and safety. If your organisation does not have a template for writing a policy or standard, Laing O'Rourke have a very good example of an RCS Policy:

Create a Risk Assessment Process
Risk assessments are crucial for protecting people from harm, fulfilling legal duties, and ensuring business continuity by proactively identifying hazards, evaluating risks, and implementing controls to protect the workforce. If you do not have a Risk Assessment template, the HSE has one available on their website. Remember, this needs to be specific to Silica dust, so you might also find the 'BOHS Silica Site Checklist' useful:

Ensure Health Competency
Hiring competent people in health and safety is crucial because it ensures a workplace can effectively identify, assess, and mitigate risks, thereby protecting lives while meeting mandatory legal duties. A competent person possesses the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to prevent accidents, reduce absenteeism, and build a positive safety culture. A competent person within the construction industry would be well aware of RCS and what they must do to ensure the workforce are protected.

Give Permission to Challenge
Allowing staff to challenge poor practice is essential for maintaining safety, improving service quality, and fostering a collaborative, ethical, and transparent working culture. It prevents minor issues from escalating into serious incidents, ensures accountability, and protects people from harm. Ensure your business has a process for logging concerns in a constructive and positive way.

In 2024, Lauren Miller (Senior Occupational H&S Advisor at BAM Construction) spoke at ‘Action on Site Health – Scotland’ about how to lead effectively. Lauren explained the success she has had with implementing a servant leadership style with the guys on the ground, which has built a mutual level of respect and the ability to collaborate better. Lauren also explained the importance of arranging tours with directors. Listen to the full presentation (8 mins):

R

Risk Assessment

Our Final Note on Exposure to RCS:

Remember Lauren’s point about being humble; the guys on the tools are often more knowledgeable about site activities and processes than we are, so listen, take in their feedback, and work with them to ensure they buy into health and safety control measures and the overall strategy. A collaborative team is not only a high functioning team, but one that remains safe and healthy.

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Awareness

Ensure You Have a Health Strategy
Business risks are not managed by accident, and RCS is no different. Leaders should develop a strategy which drives intentional improvement regarding RCS management.
A good health strategy, starts with good ‘health leadership’ – here are five quick points on health leadership for RCS:

1. Set the Tone – Talk openly about the risks of RCS. This creates permission and a safe environment for others to do the same, also increasing awareness of the significant risks present.

2. Establish Business Processes – Make it easy for people to achieve what is expected of them. Review the business systems and ensure items relevant to RCS control can be easily obtained. For example, if there is an expectation for RPE to be worn, or health surveillance checks to be completed, ensure that the necessary procurement or service provisions are in place and can be easily accessed.

3. Challenge Working Methods – RCS risk is intrinsically tied to the work undertaken and so it is the work which must change in order to make the greatest improvements. Be curious and challenge traditional methods which create RCS, as in many instances there are better ways of working.

4. Draw from the Front – In most cases, RCS risk is greatest at the frontline. Encourage the gathering of insights from frontline teams, to help better understand the business risk profile and help to shape improvement initiatives for RCS.

5. Implement RCS Governance – Ensure the topic of RCS forms part of your H&S governance processes. For example, this could include the development of RCS performance indicators which are discussed within H&S reviews, to better understand how effectively (or not) this risk is being managed, throughout the organisation.

Cultural Health Maturity
Understanding a business's cultural health maturity is vital for leadership because it directly impacts performance, employee retention, and the ability to execute strategic change. A high-maturity culture is embedded in daily operations—rather than just on paper— everyone understands the importance of protecting themselves (and others) against exposure to silica dust and knows what is expected of them. As a senior leader, it is your responsibility to have a process in place to assess cultural health maturity, so that your managers can support staff members with their development journey.

In 2023, Balfour Beatty shared a copy of their ‘Health & Wellbeing Maturity Matrix’ with HCLG members. It is a self-assessment tool designed to help individuals improve their understanding of occupational health and wellbeing, take ownership of their own development journey, and take tangible steps forward to better protect themselves and others at work. The webinar recording is still available to watch back, and there are templates available to help you create your own ‘Health & Wellbeing Maturity Matrix’.

Comms Strategy
It is crucial for leadership to have a dedicated health and safety (H&S) communications strategy because it shifts H&S from a passive policy to an active, shared organisational value. Effective leadership communication reduces occupational ill-health, reduces complacency, and builds a culture where employees feel valued and empowered to report hazards. At Balfour Beatty, they have the 'Zero Harm' campaign, click the image to learn more:

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Control

Challenge Design
Challenge designers to design out the risk - don't accept that hazards are a given. Do you do design risk reviews? Talk about specifically reducing RCS. Be intentional. Be firm.

Marpal explain what a good designers risk assessment looks like.

Establish Procurement Routes
Establishing procurement routes is crucial for leadership because it directly impacts the project cost, timeline and quality. A well-defined, top-down procurement strategy ensures alignment with broader business goals, allowing for better risk management and improved efficiency. To ensure a minimum standard on site, the leadership team should ensure that the business has Preferred Supplier Agreements (PSAs) with Silica specialists who provide suitable engineering controls (LEV) and RPE.

RVT Group are specialists in LEV and 3M are specialists in RPE; both provide suitable solutions for managing silica dust. Click the links to learn more about these providers:

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Evaluate

Occupational Health Surveillance Programme

The HSE explain that,
"Health surveillance for silicosis should be considered for workers who are involved in high-risk occupations, including construction, foundry work, brick and tile work, ceramics, slate, manufacturing, quarries and stonework. Where workers are regularly exposed to RCS dust and there is a reasonable likelihood that silicosis may develop, health surveillance must be provided."

What sort of things should be included in a health surveillance programme for silicosis?
A good programme will include: an initial baseline assessment (within 6 weeks of them joining the business), followed by periodic assessments, respiratory health questionnaires, lung function tests (spirometry), chest X-rays (or HRCT), and, in some cases, tuberculosis screening. These programs must be directed by an occupational health professional to detect early signs of lung damage and ensure the effectiveness of control measures.

Be proactive. Bring Occupational Hygienists into the business to proactively monitor employee health, ensure legal compliance, and prevent work-related illnesses like silicosis.