Florenza Marble & Granite Corp., Chicago: OSHA silica citation

Inspection reason: OSHA learned that accelerated silicosis left a 31-year-old worker needing a double lung transplant, and it warned the company about a potential imminent danger.

Silica dust: the findings

• Exposure to silica dust ran as high as about six times the permissible limit while workers cut engineered and natural stone countertops.
• Engineering and administrative controls to cut dust were few or absent, and respirators weren't used correctly by workers.
• Workers' silica exposure wasn't tracked through a baseline medical exam or medical surveillance, and a respiratory protection program didn't exist.
• Two workers who have silicosis each need a lung transplant. No training on protective equipment and no information about silica hazards were given to them.

More hazards from this citation

• Respirator deficiencies, along with poor housekeeping.
• A hazard communication program and a silica exposure control plan were both missing.
• Workers received no training on compressed air, and the company let them use it improperly.

The employer's time to answer the citation: Once it received the citations, the company had 15 working days to comply, to ask OSHA's area director for an informal conference, or to challenge the findings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent body.

For those who worked at Florenza Marble & Granite

The US now sees most new silicosis cases in shops that cut engineered stone, quartz included. Did you cut, grind, or polish slabs at Florenza Marble & Granite (Chicago)? Two claims may be yours: workers' comp paid by the employer's insurer, and a lawsuit against companies that made the stone.