![]() However, your client could switch from the scheduled monitoring option to the performance option in. 1053(d)(3), monitoring must be performed every three months as long as exposures remain above the PEL.1053(d)(3)(iv). If your client chooses to proceed under the scheduled monitoring option in. Response: Under the RCS standard's scheduled monitoring option, employers must conduct initial monitoring to assess the 8-hour TWA exposure for each employee, on the basis of one or more personal breathing zone air samples that reflect the exposures of employees on each shift, for each job classification, and in each work area employers must then conduct follow-up monitoring at specified intervals, based upon the results of the initial monitoring.1053(d)(3). Question: Does the employer still have to monitor employees every three months, given that the sampling results will probably not vary significantly for the follow-up exposure measurements (i.e., they will still exceed the PEL without the use of airline respirators)? Employee exposures are controlled to below the action level (AL) by use of airline respirators. You also stated that the employer has conducted exposure monitoring on a few occasions during blasting, and that these monitoring data demonstrate that employees' 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) exposures are consistently above the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for silica. ![]() You were contacted by my staff for further clarification and you explained that the employees work in a large open space and clean and polish very large pieces of pre-cast concrete, using beaded glass as the blasting media. ![]() 1053(d)(3)(iv) Where the most recent exposure monitoring indicates that employee exposures are above the PEL, the employer shall repeat such monitoring within three months of the most recent monitoring.1053(d)(6)(ii) Whenever an exposure assessment indicates that employee exposure is above the PEL, the employer shall describe in the written notification the corrective action being taken to reduce employee exposure to or below the PEL. In addition, you reference the following information from the RCS standard in your letter. The employees also use airline respirators (blasting hoods with an assigned protection factor of 1,000) and full body suits. The client has implemented substitution and engineering controls, such as replacing the blasting media and isolating the area, as well as administrative and housekeeping measures, such as wetting down the areas, putting up boundaries, and minimizing the number of employees in the area during blasting. Your paraphrased question and our response are below.īackground: In your letter, you state that you provide industrial hygiene services to a client that has workers who perform abrasive blasting. This letter constitutes OSHA's interpretation only of the requirements discussed and may not be applicable to any question not delineated within your original correspondence. ![]() You have requested clarification regarding the monitoring requirements in OSHA's Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) standard for general industry. Thank you for your letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Directorate of Enforcement Programs.
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