angle grinding, jack hammering and chiselling of concrete or masonry.abrasive blasting (blasting agent must not contain greater than 1% of crystalline silica).brick, concrete or stone cutting especially using dry methods.mining, quarrying and mineral ore treating processes.clay and stone processing machine operations.excavation, earth moving and drilling plant operations.during fabrication and installation of composite (engineered or manufactured) stone countertops.Crystalline silica is most dangerous to health when dust is generated, becomes airborne and is then inhaled by a worker.Įxamples of work activities that can generate respirable silica dust particles include: Silica is one of the most abundant minerals found in the earth’s crust and is used in many products across a variety of industries and workplaces. Work activities that may represent a high risk exposure The non-crystalline or amorphous forms of silica do not cause this kind of lung damage. Respirable silica dust particles are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and can cause irreversible lung damage. Some dust particles can be so small that they are not visible these are commonly referred to as respirable particles. Silica dust is generated in workplace mechanical processes such as crushing, cutting, drilling, grinding, sawing or polishing of natural stone or man-made products that contain silica. The most common type of crystalline silica is quartz (CAS 1).ĭifferent types of rock and rock products can contain different amounts of silica, for example: There are non-crystalline and crystalline forms of silicon dioxide. Silica is silicon dioxide, a naturally occurring and widely abundant mineral that forms the major component of most rocks and soils. The model WHS Regulations and accompanying Explanatory Statement have now been consolidated to include the above amendments and are available on the model WHS Regulations page. The Explanatory Statement to the Amendment can be viewed here. The amendments reflect the existing duty on persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to eliminate the risks to the health and safety of workers from engineered stone and if that is not reasonably practicable, to minimise the risks so far as is reasonably practicable.Ī PCBU that permits the uncontrolled processing of engineered stone would not be complying with their primary duty of care and the model WHS Regulations now directly prohibit such conduct. The Model Work Health and Safety Regulations (Engineered Stone) Amendment 2023 introduces an express prohibition on the uncontrolled processing of engineered stone products. The model Work Health and Safety Regulations have been amended by the Parliamentary Counsel’s Committee.
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