Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109890

Ken Hoffner, CIH, Occupational Health and Safety, New Jersey Laborers' Health and Safety Fund, P.O. Box 554, 104 Interchange Plaza, Suite 301, Cranbury, NJ 08512, (609) 860-9223, khoffner@njlaborers.org

Excessive exposure to crystalline silica is a problem that pervades the heavy highway construction industry. Road building materials such as concrete, asphalt, and other masonry products contain silica. The New Jersey Silica Partnership determined that excessive silica exposures to workers while performing routine highway construction tasks such as jack hammering, drilling, milling, grinding, compressed air cleaning, and dry cutting. Excessive exposure to silica is known to cause silicosis and is a known human carcinogen. One goal of the partnership was to identify existing effective and feasible engineering controls and, if necessary, to develop new engineering controls to facilitate compliance with the silica protective contract language included in contracts for road construction projects. The partners began with pneumatic tools, such as jackhammers, the most commonly used pieces of equipment in the highway construction/repair industry that cause overexposures.

The partnership evaluated three engineering control methods: one water suppression system developed by Tilcon Construction for this partnership, and two local exhaust ventilation systems. The study proved the efficacy of the controls tested. Water suppression controls reduced exposure by up 90% and the local exhaust ventilation reduced exposure by up to 70%. An additional benefit to the study was that it proved the minimum amount of water needed to control exposure did not create water

Learning Objectives:

• To learn about efficacy of local exhasut systems for jack hammers.To learn about the water run-off issues associated water suppression or dust.

Keywords: Occupational Disease, Occupational Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.