Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112Pennine, technical manager for Tile and Stone Installation Systems at ARDEX. “The changes to the rule will stress air quality monitoring and record keeping.” Manufacturers are also working to make contractors aware of alter- native products. “LATICRETE is exploring additional options to pro- vide more solutions to the contrac- tor,” explained Art Mintie, senior director of Technical Services. Immediately, he said, “there are non-cement-based installation products currently available in our line of products that can be used as potential substitutes if so desired and specified.” Manufacturers are focused on rule compliance at facilities as well as contractor in-field use. “MAPEI’s Environmental Health and Safety Department is presently develop- ing a program to meet the require- ments of OSHA’s new respirable crystalline silica regulations,” said Jim Whitfield, MAPEI’s Technical Services manager. “The program will include guidelines to support our contractor customers and meet compliance in our manufacturing facilities.” Cutting/grinding dangers Porcelain and ceramic tile also contains silica, and cutting it dry or grinding edges can send microscop- ic crystalline silica particles flying. The Tile Council of North America (TCNA) – which represents tile and mortar manufacturers – has been studying the silica issue for some time. TCNA’s Dr. Joytha Rangineni testified before an OSHA panel that in tile and brick, the molecular sur- face of silica is modified by the clay around it, and therefore, it is less available than pure silica to react with lung tissue. In the new rule, OSHA pro- vides “Specified Exposure Control Methods” for minimizing airborne silica particles. The good news is that for tile, wet-saws and ventila- tion appear to be sufficient pro- tocols. “We were glad to see that wet-cutting ceramic tile was rec- ognized by OSHA as being safe, so much so that monitoring for respi- rable silica when engaged in such activity was not considered neces- sary by OSHA,” explained TCNA executive director Eric Astrachan. Cutting backer board, drilling into or grinding concrete, fabri- cating stone and artificial stone surfaces, and housekeeping chores such as sweeping debris are also work activities that OSHA is scru- Mixing mortars and grouts can expose tile and stone installers to silica since both the cement and sand aggregate – two of the three key ingredients – have long been raw silica. OSHA IN THE NEWS ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 68 TileLetter | July 2016