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Slippery Rock Gazette
Block Tops Inc.
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Taking Silicosis Prevention to the Next Level
If you’ve been listening to the news these days, you might have heard how the silico- sis warnings in our industry are ramping up. New warnings are specifically aimed at the manufacturers and fabricators of quartz prod- ucts, and echoing mostly through California’s halls of justice, at least for the moment. Most fabricators understand that this is not a new problem, and clearly, this problem is not just going to go away. No Siree! If not dealt with from every angle, first by industry leaders, then by shops using stone products, it prom- ises to fester and grow bigger by the year. Though not a simple fix, it is one of those sit- uations, that if we do not take responsibility, someone else will, and the outcome will not be pretty, explained Kolenski in great detail.
“Engineered stone has eclipsed natural stone in just the last few years to become 65% percent of our sales. Prior to this, it had been approximately 50/50. I’m not sure if this trend will continue, due to all the silico- sis stuff going on. L.A. County and Australia have focused on engineered stone as a silica issue, so I don’t know.
The Block Tops Sacramento, California office staff.
“As it turns out, quartzites also have very high silica content, but they weren’t even considered, at first. Now, though, it looks like the regulations and legislations are focused on treating all stone materials the same, and it’s difficult to say with certainty what affect this will have on the consumers. So far, we’ve only had a handful of custom- ers ask about the new silica concerns, but whatever happens with the regulations, it could certainly affect sales.
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“That said, it really is difficult to predict what the next five years will bring. With the legislations that we are helping to work on, such as licensing fabricators before they can purchase materials, this will make a huge difference, because you can’t control safety by enforcement, due to safety enforcement personnel being under staffed. We saw the 2016 OSHA rules that weren’t being enforced, and the only way to stop that is to control who can get product. If that goes through, and it’s a good law, companies like Block Tops will have a good oppor- tunity to increase market share, because of the ones that can’t or won’t comply. That law in a good, clean bill will give the guys who care about safety and doing the right thing the advantage, and winnow out the bad actors and the guys who take danger- ous short-cuts. Conversely, if they just keep putting regulations on guys like us who are trying to comply and don’t do anything to the guys that aren’t, it’s going to choke our opportunities, and our costs are just going to keep going up. It can be expensive to do the right thing for the safety of your employees, and it’s easier to not comply if there is no punishment. So the next five years will be very interesting.”
The Bottom Line
In closing, if you’re in fabrication for the long haul, you should think about joining the NSI and ISFA, because they spend a lot of time and money to fight for you. Also, think about taking the NSI silica and slab safety class that will deliver a whole lot of critical information, so you can be aware of the problem and not part of it. Then, get fully wet, if you’re not already, and add air purification, if you haven’t, and try to keep the air quality standard below the action level. If it does rise above the action level, immediately deal with it by making location, machine, or personnel changes. Continue to test your air and get your peo- ple tested regularly. Wash down the floors every night and wet down all pathways every morning.
Additionally, read current OSHA and state regulations, and when you’re con- fident that you’ve done all you can, sign up for a voluntary OSHA consultation. There is no fine if any problems are cor- rected immediately, and it protects you for a year from any enforcement guys coming in. After this, it is time to pat yourself and your team on the back, and invite local pub- lic health officials and state legislators in
for a tour. They have a lot of power, they are compassionate, and they really do care about worker’s safety, but by and large, really don’t know our industry. If we had done this a few years ago, we’d be in a bet- ter position to not be lumped together with non-compliant shops.
Block Tops Inc. is a member of the Natural Stone Institute and the Stone Fabricator’s Alliance.
For more information, visit www.block tops.com .
Top and Below: The Block Tops Sacramento, California install teams love their No-Lift Install system carts. Safety in all aspects of the job is important at Block Tops. The company has several No-Lift carts, and uses them in both locations.
“We need to tell better stories of men and women who master a trade. We have to stop telling kids to blindly follow their passion and show them the opportunities that exist.
That was the big, overarching message of ‘Dirty Jobs.”
– Mike Rowe