Toxic and hazardous substances: Silica - New York

New York operates an OSHA-approved State Plan covering most private sector workers and all state and local government workers. The New York Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) Bureau has generally adopted all OSHA standards applicable to state and local government employment.   PESH’s has state-initiated standards for permissible exposure limits (PELs) and Right to Know. 

Additional requirements include: 

• Whenever feasible engineering, administrative, or work practice controls can be instituted (even though they are not sufficient to reduce exposure to or below the permissible exposure limit (PEL)), nonetheless, are required in conjunction with personal protective equipment to reduce exposure to the lowest practical level. 
• When it has been established that an employee is exposed to a toxic substance in excess of the PEL established by OSHA standards (without regard to the use of respirator protection), a citation for exceeding the air contaminant standard shall be issued. The violation shall be classified as serious or non-serious on the basis of the requirements in the Chemical Information Manual, OSHA Instruction CPL 2-2.43A, and the use of respiratory protection at the time of the violation.