Silica Exposure: Chicago Manufacturer Penalized $1M

A Chicago countertop manufacturer was cited for eight egregious willful, four willful, and 20 serious health and safety violations and proposed $1,019,096 in penalties.

OSHA claims that the company:

• Failed to establish a baseline of employees’ medical health to monitor silica exposure.
• Did not perform medical surveillance to monitor exposure.
• Lacked engineering and administrative controls to reduce silica dust to safe levels.
• Exposed workers to unsafe levels of silica dust.
• Failed to have a respiratory protection program in place.
• Did not implement a written hazard communication program.
• Did not train employees on why the respirator was necessary and how improper fit, usage, storage or maintenance can compromise the protective effect of the respirator.
• Did not provide training to the employees on respirable crystalline silica to which they were exposed.
• Did not provide training on hazardous chemicals.

The Investigation: Trigger and Details

OSHA learned that, at the plant, one employee needed a double lung transplant after suffering accelerated silicosis. That employee’s father (and co-worker) also needed a lung transplant due to silicosis. A third employee had been treated for unresolved work-related lung disease for more than 3 years. Silicosis is an incurable lung disease that reduces the life expectancy of humans by 11 years.

“Our compliance officers found silica dust levels nearly six times higher than permissible levels and the owner made little or no effort to protect his employees from exposure.”

OSHA Regional Administrator Bill Donovan

Investigators found that insurance carriers refused to insure the company in 2022 and 2024 for not providing air sampling or proving it protected its workers.

Self-paced Silica Safety Training

Working with manufactured stone? Make sure your employees are aware of the risks, regulatory requirements, and protections for workers exposed to substances and materials that contain silica with our one-hour online course.

Be confident your employees know how to select, fit, and use respirators at your site! The Respiratory Protection online course is designed to meet OSHA’s annual training requirement for employees who use respirators at 29 CFR 1910.134.

Tags: osha, silica