A & I Stone LLC, Woodinville: Washington L&I silica citation

Silica dust: the findings

• One employee faced respirable crystalline silica exposure over the permissible exposure limit, with no respiratory protection.
• The 25 µg/m3 action level was exceeded by four employees in air monitoring done on 8/6/21, yet a baseline medical exam was never offered.
• Records of silica exposure measurements kept by the employer were not accurate. During the inspection, this got fixed.
• The written plan for controlling silica exposure was split across other documents, and employees could not easily understand or access it.

Other hazards cited along with silica

• During sanding, noise exposure reached 95.9 dBA TWA8, and no feasible engineering or administrative controls reduced it.
• The Accident Prevention Program was not built around the noise hazards of the workplace.
• No written noise training program existed, noise exposure records weren't kept, and respirator training records were missing employee names and dates.

The employer's time to answer the citation: Once cited, the employer had 15 working days to file an appeal. It had to fix every violation by its due date. The certification of abatement also had to go back with the paperwork requested, or added penalties were possible. The payment was due 15 working days after the citation arrived.

If A & I Stone was where you worked

Most new cases of silicosis in the US now show up in shops that cut quartz or other engineered stone. If your job at A & I Stone in Woodinville involved cutting, grinding, or polishing slabs, two claims may be open to you. One is workers' comp through insurance from the employer. The other is a lawsuit against the companies that produced the stone.