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Best practice engineering control guidelines to control worker exposure to respirable crystalline silica during asphalt pavement milling.

Hammond-DR; Cecala-AB; Colinet-J; Garcia-A; Mead-KR; Echt-A; Shulman-SA; Hein-MJ; Gressel-MJ; Blade-LM; Zimmer-J; Lo-L; Joy-GJ; Chekan-G; Kovein-R; Marlow-D

Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2015-105, 2015 Mar; :1-70

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2015-105/

20045869

This document represents more than ten years of collaborative research by labor, industry, and government to reduce respirable crystalline silica exposure during asphalt pavement milling in highway construction. The collaborative research began when the Silica/Asphalt Milling Machine Partnership was formed at the 2003 National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) Annual Meeting, and studies on milling machine dust controls began later that year. The Silica/Asphalt Milling Machine Partnership is coordinated by NAPA and includes all U.S. and foreign manufacturers of heavy construction equipment that currently sell pavement-milling machines to the U.S. market. In addition to NAPA and the equipment manufacturers, the Silica/Asphalt Milling Machine Partnership includes numerous paving contractors, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the Laborers International Union of North America, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, and government organizations including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Federal Highway Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Based on the research of the Silica/Asphalt Milling Machine Partnership, NIOSH recommend engineering controls that include ventilation controls in addition to water-sprays used to cool the cutting teeth. Milling machines that adopt this well-designed dust control approach have been shown to control worker exposures to respirable crystalline silica from asphalt milling operations during 21 days of personal breathing zone sampling at 11 different highway construction sites [NIOSH 2013b,c]. The 42 personal breathing zone air sampling results (21 days with 2 workers per day) were all below the NIOSH recommended exposure limit of 0.05 mg/m3 for respirable crystalline silica ranging from below the limit of detection up to 0.024 mg/m3. NIOSH and the Silica/Asphalt Milling Machine Partnership recommend ventilation controls be placed on all new half-lane and larger asphalt milling machines to reduce worker exposure to respirable crystalline silica. It is also recommended that water-sprays be used to suppress dust on milling machines if ventilation dust controls are not available. The ventilation and water-spray dust controls described in this document represent the current knowledge of best practices developed by the Silica/Asphalt Milling Machine Partnership for controlling dust during asphalt pavement milling. This document should not limit manufacturers from implementing future improvements in dust control as new technologies or inventions become available. Manufacturers can use the procedures in Appendices A and B of this document to evaluate current and future dust controls. Appendix D is not included in the posted PDF version of this report. It can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2015-105/mover_upper_confidence_limits.xlsx.

Construction; Construction-equipment; Construction-industry; Construction-materials; Construction-workers; Silica-dusts; Respirable-dust; Dust-exposure; Control-technology; Engineering-controls; Environmental-control-equipment; Environmental-technology; Dust-control; Dust-control-equipment; Ventilation; Ventilation-equipment; Machine-operation; Equipment-design; Dust-suppression; Air-sampling; Breathing-zone; Exposure-assessment; Exposure-levels; Exposure-limits; Road-construction; Road-surfacing

7631-86-9; 14808-60-7

20150301

Numbered Publication

2015

PB2015-104128

A06

DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2015-105

DART; OMSHR; DSHEFS

Construction; Manufacturing

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

OH; PA