Know the Hazard
Who’s At Risk?
Approximately 2.3 million workers in the U.S. are exposed to silica. Each year, hundreds of workers die from illnesses caused by breathing in silica and thousands more become ill.
Any worker who performs one or more of the following tasks with any of the materials listed below is at risk of being exposed to hazardous levels silica dust. If you work close by someone generating silica dust you may be at risk.
| Task |
|---|
| Abrasive blasting |
| Bushhammering |
| Cutting/sawing |
| Demolishing/disturbing |
| Drilling |
| Earthmoving |
| Frac sand cleanup |
| Frac sand mixing |
| Frac sand offloading |
| Frac sand onloading |
| Frac sand transferring |
| Grinding |
| Jackhammering |
| Milling |
| Mixing |
| Polishing |
| Roofing |
| Sacking/patching |
| Sanding |
| Scabbling |
| Scarifying |
| Scraping |
| Sweeping/cleaning up |
| Well mixing/pumping |
| Material |
|---|
| Asphalt (for paving) |
| Brick |
| Cement |
| Concrete |
| Concrete Block |
| Drywall |
| Fiber Cement products |
| Frac Sand |
| Grout |
| Gunite/Shotcrete |
| Mortar |
| Paints containing silica |
| Plaster |
| Refractory Mortar/Castables |
| Refractory Units |
| Rock |
| Roofing tiles & pavers |
| Sand |
| Soil (fill dirt and top soil) |
| Stone (including: granite, limestone, quartzite, sandstone, shale, slate, cultured, etc.) |
| Stucco/EIFS |
| Terrazzo |
| Tile (clay, ceramic, concrete, etc.) |
NOTE: The “Create-A-Plan” section of this website provides options for controlling silica exposures by material and task.
