On March 24, 2016, OSHA issued a final silica standard for general industry and maritime. The new standard went into effect on June 23, 2016, and OSHA began enforcement on June 23, 2018. There were two exceptions:
- While the standard required that medical surveillance must be offered starting June 23, 2018 to all employees who will be exposed above the PEL for 30 days or more a year, the starting date for offering medical surveillance to employees who will be exposed at or above the action level for 30 or more days a year did not start until June 23, 2020.
- Hydraulic fracturing operations in the oil and gas industry were not required to implement engineering controls to limit exposures to the new PEL until June 23, 2021.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in December 2017 upheld the standard. At the time, the Court noted that OSHA failed to adequately explain its decision to omit medical removal protections from the General Industry rule and remanded it for further consideration of the issue.
In December 2023, California OSHA issued temporary requirements in its general industry standard to protect workers who are engaged in dust-generating tasks involving “artificial stone and natural stone.” On February 5, 2025, the requirements were made permanent. According to the California State Compensation Insurance Fund, this permanent standard, “adds protections for workers exposed to silica dust in general industry…who perform high-exposure trigger tasks on artificial and natural stone.”
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