OSHA's Silica Standard: Putting Roofing Contractors at Risk

The purpose of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is ‘to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources.’  However, in granting the U.S. Secretary of Labor the authority to “assure” such measures, members of congress did not intend for undue strains and  unnecessary hardships to be mandated on interstate commerce and those industries that comprise it.

In March, OSHA did just that when it finalized its Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica rule (“the rule”).