Silica Hub - Manager Resources | healthinconstruction

Silica Dust Resources for Supervisors & Managers

What You Need to Know

Respirable Crystalline Silica (also referred to as RCS or Silica dust) is Deadly. It can cause Silicosis, COPD, lung cancer, tuberculosis, and kidney disease.

As such, the COSHH regulation requires employers to ensure that exposure to RCS is either prevented or adequately controlled. The Work Exposure Limit (WEL) for Respirable Crystalline Silica is 0.1 mg/m3 as an 8 hour time weighted average.

Failure to adequately protect your employees will lead to prosecution.

Click on the video to play sound

What You Need to Do

1. Familiarise yourself with all relevant legislation & guidance.

2. Ensure a suitable risk assessment has been conducted, and that adequate hazard control measures have been implemented - inline with the hierarchy of control.

3. Ensure staff are properly trained on the risks associated with Silica, and on the control measures they must use.

4. Ensure that LEV systems are properly commissioned, installed, tested, and maintained.

5. Ensure RPE is properly face-fit by a competent person.

6. Ensure that there is a suitable dust monitoring programme in place (Eg. Wearable air-samplers).

7. Ensure a health surveillance programme is in place.

8. Nurture the willing adoption of good practice across your site.

9. Ensure there are clear systems in place for employees to report problems with their PPE, engineering controls or the onset of any occupational health issues.

10. Manage up! If you don't have the authority to make an essential change, ensure you are regularly communicating with senior leaders and putting a business case forward to get buy in.

Click on the video to play sound

How to Properly Protect Your Team From Silica Dust, Using The Hierarchy of Control

As a health and safety manager, OH manager, team leader, supervisor or site manager, you might be responsible for conducting risk assessments. As with any hazard, you will need to follow the hierarchy of control when deciding what control measures should be implemented.

This diagram explains the different types of hazard control measures that should be considered when working with Silica Dust.

When looking at the Hierarchy of Control, we always start at the top and work our way down.

Elimination and Substitution: Essentially, the safest way to manage silica dust is to completely remove it. This could involve pre-cutting materials off-site, substituting silica materials with safer non-silica materials, or automating processes to remove human interaction. Just be mindful that if you substitute materials, you may be creating a new type of hazard to manage.

Engineering controls: If you can't eliminate or substitute the hazard, you need to consider specially designed engineering controls, for example, an extraction & filtration system (also known as an LEV system).

Please note, a proper Local Exhaust Ventilation System (LEV) system will have:

An appropriate hood (to capture the dust at source).
A high power fan that provides sufficient airflow for your activity (face-velocity calculations may be required).
An appropriate filter (you will need a HEPA filter for silica dust - capturing 99.97% of particulate).
Ducting to connect each part of the system.
And a discharge point for the air to pass through.

These systems must be properly specified, commissioned, and tested on a regular basis. The COSHH Regulation states that a Thorough Examination and Test (TExT) must be conducted every 14 months. You might also require general ventilation to dilute any residual airborne contaminants.

You should also consider using containment units to ensure that dust cannot migrate out of the work zone. This could be a modular containment unit with solid walls and doors, or a simple polythene sheeting set-up. For an additional level of control, you may want to put the room under positive or negative pressure to control the airflow - this is advised for sensitive environments, such as hospital renovations. It is also advisable to use a differential room pressure monitor to confirm that pressure is being maintained.

As a line leader, supervisor or manager, you should have a good understanding of LEV. Scroll down this page to download the HSE's Guide to Local Exhaust Ventilation (HSG 258).

Other engineering controls for Silica dust might include wet or dry M-Class vacuums (captures 99.95% of particulate), wet or dry H-Class vacuums (captures 99.99% of particulate), on-tool water supply for wet cutting, or water cannons/ jets for dust suppression.

Administrative Controls: Administrative controls focus on changing work practices and procedures to minimize exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust. These controls aim to reduce the duration and frequency of exposure by modifying how tasks are performed and how workers interact with silica-containing materials.

For example, rotating workers through different tasks or limiting the duration of high-risk activities can reduce individual exposure levels. Furthermore, enforcing good housekeeping rules to ensure a clean and organised work environment is maintained, will help prevent the accumulation of dust and reduces the potential for exposure.

Suitable health and safety signage should also be displayed, to clearly identify the entrance of a hazardous work zone and what rules apply in that zone. If people have not undertaken specific training for the activities and hazards in that zone, they should not enter.

PPE: Add wording here

Add another

download here

Conducting Health Surveillance

If your employees are working with Respirable Crystalline Silica, you must conduct health surveillance for silicosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). As per, G404, this involves the performance of appropriate tests and identifying if your workers have symptoms such as:

Shortness of breath
Persistent coughing with or without phlegm
Frequent or prolonged chest infections
Wheezing

Your team members should also understand the importance of reporting these symptoms if they occur. A clear system should be in place for who they report these symptoms to.

Guidance You Need To Be Familiar With

Failure to comply with health and safety legislation may result in fines, legal penalties, imprisonment, reputational damage, operational disruptions, increased insurance premiums, and accidents leading to injuries or even death. It is therefore essential that managers, supervisors and team leaders are familiar with relevant legislation and guidance.