What happened: For over two years, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delayed the review of a rule meant to protect workers from dangerous silica dust exposure.
Why it matters: The normal review process is supposed to be 90 days; by delaying the review of the rule for so long, the White House also delayed the ability of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to implement this science-based rule and protect the health and safety of workers across the country.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delayed for over two years the review of a rule to regulate workplace silica dust exposure. In February 2011, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) sent its proposed silica rule for review to the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The review process is supposed to only take up to 90 days but OIRA took two and half years to finish its review of the silica rule. OSHA was only able to carry out the next stage of rulemaking, a public comment period, starting in September 2013.
White House records show that OIRA met with at least seven labor groups and more than 30 industry groups during this period. Industry groups, which strongly opposed the tightening of the silica work standard, appeared to have influenced the OIRA review process. OIRA administrator Cass Sunstein forwarded an email from the CEO of US Silica Co. to the White House’s Chief of Staff and the White House’s Cabinet Secretary, stating that it was “worth a look.” The industry CEO’s email had cast doubt on the science and urged OIRA to require OSHA to carry out further evaluations of the rule’s risks and benefits.
Silica is a natural material commonly found in the earth, most commonly in the form of quartz. Occupational work that involves cutting, drilling, or grinding materials like sand, concrete, brick, stone, and mortar can cause silica to turn into a fine, inhalable form called respirable crystalline silica, also known as silica dust. Workers in industries like construction, mining, oil and gas extraction, stone countertop fabrication, foundries, and other manufacturing settings are at risk for breathing in silica dust which can result in the development of several silica-related diseases. Specifically, workers exposed to silica dust can develop silicosis – an incurable lung disease that can lead to disability and death – and other diseases like lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and kidney disease.
The dangers of exposure to silica dust have been known since the times of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations; Hippocrates and Pliny the elder both described the link between silica dust exposure and disease. The first scientific study of silicosis dates back to 1796, which documented high mortality rates of needlepoint workers in Redditch, England. By 1918, workers in England received disability compensation when they developed silicosis.
The methods that can be used to reduce exposure to silica dust – like wetting down work areas to prevent silica dust from entering the air, isolating silica-generating activity to less populated areas, and using a vacuum to suck the dust before workers breathe it in – are methods that have been around for decades; they were previously described in the Labor Department’s Stop Silicosis film from 1938.
Before the implementation of this OSHA rule, the workplace exposure limit for silica dust had not been updated since 1971. By severely delaying the review of OSHA’s silica rule, the Obama administration failed to follow the science and put thousands of workers across the country at risk for the development of silicosis and other silica-related diseases.