What illnesses can result from breathing in dust that contains silica? I don’t know anyone with silicosis so why should I be worried?

For silica, the Standard requires the labeling of materials containing “more than 0.1 percent crystalline silica by weight or volume which have anticipated downstream uses where crystalline silica may become airborne and present an inhalation hazard to employees working with that material.”(Letter of interpretation February 11, 1991) This label should identify the hazardous material, the type of hazard – health or physical – and the manufacturer, producer, or importer’s name and address.Additionally for more information on how to perform air monitoring, see our page: https://Kirk Walztoni, Refinery Planning Manager, provided a look at Northern Tier Energy (NTE), and specifically their refinery located on the southeast side of the Twin Cities. Paul Park Refinery was started in 1939 by Northwest Refining, was purchased by Northern Tier from Marathon in 2010, and most recently, in 2013, Western Refining acquired a 39% stake in Northern Tier. Paul Park facility has been quite profitable and in 2014 was ranked #3 among US Independent Refiners in Gross Margin per Barrel.In the case of silica, the two from this list that apply are “Carcinogen” and “Respiratory Sensitizer”.Workers doing maintenance, renovation, or repair work may be required to work with existing, already installed materials for which no Safety Data Sheets are available.When following either the performance option or scheduled monitoring option, the employer must reassess exposures whenever a change in production, process, control equipment, personnel, or work practices may reasonably be expected to result in new or additional exposures to respirable crystalline silica at or above the action level, or when the employer has any reason to believe that new or additional exposures at or above the action level have occurred.See pages 34-37 in OSHA’s Small Entity Compliance Guide for the Standard for Respirable Crystalline Silica for Construction for more information about exposure assessment requirements. How should I avoid bringing dust home on my clothes? Where can I find out about silica related rules and regulations? If my task is listed on Table 1 do I have to follow Table 1? How many people are diagnosed with silicosis each year? If my task isn't on Table 1, what do I have to do to comply with the standard?OSHA's Respirable crystalline silica standard for the construction industry - .1153 - paragraph (i)(1) Hazard communication states: "The employer shall include respirable crystalline silica in the program established to comply with the hazard communication standard (HCS) (.1200).The employer shall ensure that each employee has access to labels on containers of crystalline silica and safety data sheets, and is trained in accordance with the provisions of HCS and paragrapch (i)(2) of this section.Under the revised Standard, By 2016, the Health Hazard pictogram shown below will be used to label materials, such as silica, that present a health hazard for users.Please note: OSHA’s Health Hazard pictogram lists several risks that would require a product to be labeled a Health Hazard.A chart showing data from EIA highlighted the phenomenal growth in the Bakken-increasing 10 fold in the 8 year period of January 2007 to January 2015, from 133K b/d to 1.3 million b/d.In the past few months, production has declined due to the lower crude prices.