A new Sacramento law aims to address the growing number of table cutters suffering from an incurable and deadly disease by imposing new requirements on companies, including safety training for workers.
Senate Bill 20, introduced this week by state Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Panorama City), would create a certification system for manufacturing plants where workers cut, grind and polish stone slabs to make countertops. The certification requires companies to train employees on safety practices and demonstrate to inspectors that they adhere to state standards.
Doctors have warned that young workers are suffering from silicosis, a deadly disease caused by inhaling crystalline silica particles. Lung-damaging minerals make up more than 90 percent of certain types of engineered stone, popular for kitchen and bathroom countertops. Workers in their 20s and 30s have become dependent on oxygen tanks and require lung transplants.
The bill would prevent companies and workers from cutting stone without certification, and starting in 2027 stone slab manufacturers would be prohibited from supplying products to processors without such certification. . SB 20 also calls for the creation of a tracking system to show whether stone cutting shops are accredited and an online tool to report suspected violations of safety standards.
The bill would also require mills to use a “wet method” of compacting dust when cutting such slabs, and would ban “dry cutting.” Emergency regulations currently in place require the use of water when performing hazardous work, but such regulations are subject to change, so it’s important that state law enshrines the ban. said supporters.
“By adopting the common-sense standards and precautions outlined in SB 20, California will establish strong protections for stone cutting and fabrication workers in my district and across the state and protect workers from We can once again lead the nation in safety,” Menjivar said in a statement.
The new bill follows the provisions of Assembly Bill 3043, introduced earlier this year by then-Rep. Luz Rivas (D-North Hollywood) and co-authored by Menjivar and other lawmakers.
Mr. Rivas ultimately withdrew his bill to create a permit system for stone cutting shops because state regulators did not accept his idea of creating a tracking system.
The Department of Industrial Relations, which was supposed to be responsible for implementing the measure, said it would not comment on state law. The organization urged workers to visit its website, worksafewithsilica.org, for a public awareness campaign about silica dust.
The International Surface Fabricators Association, which represents companies that cut slabs, did not immediately comment on SB 20. The Silica Safety Coalition, an industry group that argues engineered stone can be cut safely, previously supported AB 3043, along with the new bill, noting its similarities.
“The manufacturing industry firmly supports intensive regulatory oversight and enforcement of workplace environments that pose health risks from respirable crystalline silica,” the report said.
Another industry group, the Natural Stone Institute, also said it supports key elements of the bill, including certification, training and database registration.
Rivas previously warned that unless stone cutting shops improve tracking, there is no real way to enforce safety rules. Last year, California workplace safety regulators endorsed a series of new emergency measures aimed at protecting workers from illness, but advocates say California/OSHA is understaffed and cutting slabs expressed concern about the substantial difficulty in finding many small workshops.
In California, more than 200 cases of silicosis have been confirmed among countertop cutters who work with processed stone, and more than half of those cases were among workers in Los Angeles County. At least 14 people have died and 26 patients have had to undergo lung transplants due to the surge in cases, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Industry groups maintain that engineered stone can be safely cut and installed with proper precautions, but some advocates question whether such measures are appropriate. Artificial stones are widely banned in Australia, and there are calls for similar measures in other regions.
Lawyers representing countertop cutters in California have also filed numerous lawsuits against manufacturers of engineered slate, arguing that the risks of engineered stone outweigh its benefits. One of those lawyers, James Nevin, said that while SB 20 was “well-intentioned,” it was a mistake to think that “certification somehow makes a dangerous product safe.”
“The only way to prevent deadly artificial stone silica in manufacturing workers is to ban artificial stone, as we do in Australia,” Mr Nevin said.
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