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Respirable Crystalline Silica for Construction Workers

For construction workers who cut, drill, grind or break concrete, masonry and stone: recognize silica tasks and their health hazards, run your tool with its Table 1 controls, wear the right respirator, clean up without raising dust, and know your plan, competent person, results and medical exams.

Based on OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1153 (respirable crystalline silica, construction) · about 6 min read

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Recognize the hazard

What silica is and what it does

Respirable crystalline silica is quartz, cristobalite and/or tridymite contained in airborne particles that are determined to be respirable by a sampling device designed to meet the size-selective sampler characteristics in ISO 7708:1995. The rule covers silica exposure in construction work, except where exposure will stay below 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air (8-hour average) under any foreseeable conditions.

Health hazards

Your employer's training must address at least these hazards of silica:

Cancer

Lung effects

Immune system effects

Kidney effects

Tasks that make silica dust

OSHA's Table 1 lists common tasks on materials containing crystalline silica, including using stationary masonry saws, handheld power saws, walk-behind saws, rig-mounted core saws or drills, handheld and stand-mounted drills, jackhammers and handheld powered chipping tools, handheld grinders (including for tuckpointing), milling machines and floor grinders, crushing machines, and heavy equipment that abrades or fractures silica-containing materials. You must be able to name the specific tasks at your workplace that can expose you.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.1153(b) "Respirable crystalline silica" · 29 CFR 1926.1153(a) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(i)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(i)(2)(i)(A) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(i)(2)(i)(B) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(1) Table 1

Run the tool with its controls

Table 1: the controls are part of the tool

For each task listed on Table 1, your employer must fully and properly put in place the engineering controls, work practices and respiratory protection Table 1 specifies for that task, unless the employer instead assesses and limits your exposure another way the rule allows.

Examples from Table 1

Stationary masonry saws and handheld power saws: use a saw equipped with an integrated water delivery system that continuously feeds water to the blade. Handheld saws for cutting fiber-cement board (blade diameter of 8 inches or less) have their own Table 1 entry: outdoors only, with a commercially available dust collection system.
Handheld and stand-mounted drills: use a drill with a commercially available shroud or cowling with a dust collection system. The dust collector must provide the manufacturer's recommended air flow or greater, with a filter of 99% or greater efficiency and a filter-cleaning mechanism. Use a HEPA-filtered vacuum to clean holes.
Many Table 1 entries also say: operate and maintain the tool according to the manufacturer's instructions to minimize dust emissions.

Make the controls work

Wet methods: apply water at flow rates sufficient to minimize release of visible dust.
Indoors or enclosed areas: provide a means of exhaust as needed to minimize the build-up of visible airborne dust.

Good practice: if the water stops flowing or the vacuum loses suction, stop cutting and tell your supervisor. Without its control, the tool is no longer set up the way Table 1 requires.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(1) Table 1 · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(2)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(2)(ii)

Run the tool with its controls

Enclosed cabs and booths

Some Table 1 controls rely on an enclosed cab or booth, for example on drill rigs, crushers and heavy equipment. When one is used, the employer must make sure it:

Is kept as free as practicable from settled dust
Has door seals and closing mechanisms that work properly
Has gaskets and seals in good condition and working properly
Is under positive pressure from a continuous delivery of fresh air
Has intake air filtered through a filter 95% efficient in the 0.3–10.0 µm range (e.g., MERV-16 or better)
Has heating and cooling

Good practice: keep the cab door closed while you work, and report a broken seal or a dusty cab.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(2)(iii)(A) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(2)(iii)(B) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(2)(iii)(C) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(2)(iii)(D) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(2)(iii)(E) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(2)(iii)(F)

The right respirator

Read the respirator columns

For each task, Table 1 lists the required respiratory protection and minimum assigned protection factor (APF) in two columns: 4 hours or less per shift and more than 4 hours per shift. Some tasks need none; others need APF 10 or more. For example, tuckpointing with a shrouded grinder needs APF 10 for 4 hours or less and APF 25 for more than 4 hours.

Doing more than one Table 1 task in a shift

Add up the time on all your Table 1 tasks that shift. If the total is more than four hours, use the respirator listed for more than four hours for each task. If the total is less than four hours, use the respirator listed for less than four hours.

Your employer's part

Where a respirator is required, your employer must provide an appropriate respirator that complies with 29 CFR 1910.134, and run a respiratory protection program under that standard.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(1) Table 1 · 29 CFR 1926.1153(c)(3) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(e)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(e)(2)

Clean up without dust

No dry sweeping, no blowing off

Dry sweeping or dry brushingNot allowed where it could add to silica exposure, unless wet sweeping, HEPA-filtered vacuuming or other methods that minimize exposure are not feasible.

Compressed airNot allowed to clean clothing or surfaces where it could add to silica exposure, unless it is used with a ventilation system that effectively captures the dust cloud, or no alternative method is feasible.

So the normal way to clean silica dust is wet sweeping or a HEPA-filtered vacuum, not a dry broom or an air hose.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.1153(f)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(f)(2) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(f)(2)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(f)(2)(ii)

Plan, competent person, results, exams

What your employer must have and tell you

The written exposure control plan

Your employer must have and follow a written plan that describes at least: the tasks that involve silica exposure; the engineering controls, work practices and respirators used for each task; the housekeeping measures; and the procedures to restrict access to work areas when necessary, including exposures created by other employers. You can ask to see and copy it.

The competent person

Your employer must designate a competent person to make frequent and regular inspections of job sites, materials and equipment to carry out the plan. You must know who that person is.

Air monitoring results

If your employer measures exposure instead of following Table 1, it must, within five working days after completing an exposure assessment, notify you in writing of the results or post them where all affected employees can see them. You or your representative must get a chance to observe the monitoring.

Your employer must also make a copy of the silica standard readily available to you without cost.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.1153(g)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(g)(1)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(g)(1)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(g)(1)(iii) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(g)(1)(iv) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(g)(3) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(g)(4) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(i)(2)(i)(E) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(i)(2)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(d)(2)(vi)(A) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(d)(2)(vii)(A)

Plan, competent person, results, exams

Medical exams

If you will be required to wear a respirator under the silica rule for 30 or more days per year, your employer must make medical surveillance available to you at no cost, at a reasonable time and place.
An initial (baseline) exam must be made available within 30 days after initial assignment, unless you had an exam meeting the rule within the last three years.
Periodic exams are made available at least every three years, or more often if the licensed health care professional recommends it.
The licensed health care professional explains your results to you and gives you a written medical report within 30 days of each exam.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.1153(h)(1)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(h)(2) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(h)(3) · 29 CFR 1926.1153(h)(5)

Need proof of training? The full course (20 min) adds practice questions, a job scenario, the final quiz and a certificate your employer can verify.

Take the course

Sources

29 CFR 1926.1153

Fact-checked against the regulation text on October 09, 2026. This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1153. It is not an OSHA card or license, and it does not by itself meet the requirements of 29 CFR 1926.1153(i). Your employer must still include silica in its hazard communication program and ensure you can demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the specific tasks, engineering controls, work practices and respirators used at your job sites, the identity of the competent person, and the medical surveillance program. Your employer's written exposure control plan, competent person and medical surveillance duties still apply.

This guide explains the rule in plain words. Always read the regulation itself and your employer's site-specific procedures.