Silica Exposure during Hydraulic Fracturing

OSHA INFOSHEET Silica Exposure during Hydraulic Fracturing The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) identified exposure to airborne silica as a health hazard to workers conducting some hydraulic fracturing operations. This INFOSHEET discusses the hazards of silica, how you can be exposed, what actions employers must take to reduce exposures, and your rights as a worker.

In May 2012, NIOSH reported that workers may be exposed to dust with high levels of respirable crystalline silica (silica) during hydraulic fracturing. Silica is a common mineral found in the earth’s crust. It occurs primarily as quartz and is a major component of the sand, clay and stone materials used to make everyday products such as concrete, brick and glass. Large amounts of sand are frequently used in hydraulic fracturing operations (“fracking”).

What are the health hazards of silica? • Silicosis is a lung disease caused by breathing in very small particles of silica that cause inflammation and scarring in the lungs and reduces the lungs’ ability to use oxygen. Workers who breathe silica dust day after day are at greater risk of developing silicosis. • Breathing in silica also increases the risk of lung cancer and other diseases, such as tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary Silicosis-damaged lung. disease, and kidney and autoimmune diseases. Photo credit: CDC

How are workers exposed to silica on hydraulic fracturing sites? Dust containing silica can be released when sand is off-loaded from transport trucks and transported through movers, along transfer belts, and into blender hoppers. You can be exposed to silica if you breathe the dust. Primary sources where dust can be released include: • Thief hatches (access ports) on top of the sand movers while the machinery is running during refilling (hot loading). • Open side-fill ports on the sand movers during refilling operations. • On-site vehicle traffic, such as sand trucks. • Transfer belts under the sand movers. • Sand poured into, or mixed in, the blender hopper and on transfer Airborne silica dust at sand belts. mover and transfer system. • Operation of transfer belts between the sand mover and the blender. Photo credit: NIOSH • End of the sand transfer belt (dragon’s tail) on sand movers.

How do you know if silica is being released into the air? To determine silica exposure levels, your employer should collect air samples using devices that measure the amount of silica in a worker’s breathing zone. This enables employers to determine which jobs may expose workers to silica and the levels of silica in the air. The OSHA permissible exposure limit for worker exposure to silica is approximately 0.1 mg/m3 for pure quartz silica.

How can worker exposures to silica in the air be reduced? WORKER RIGHTS  Reduce the amount of silica dust. Under OSHA law, employers Work practices that can be used now: have the responsibility to • Cap unused fill ports on sides of sand mover. provide a safe workplace. • Reduce distance that sand falls (e.g., between the end of the dragon’s Workers must receive tail and T-belts). information and training (in • Limit the number of workers and the time that workers must spend in a language and vocabulary areas where silica dust is in the air. they can understand) about • Consider modifications to equipment so that dust operations can be workplace hazards, methods to performed remotely. prevent them, and the OSHA • Apply water-based products to roads and around the well site to standards that apply. reduce the amount of airborne dust. Workers can review records Work practices that involve equipment modification: of work-related injuries and • Enclose points where dust is released (e.g., skirting around bottom/ illnesses as well as get copies sides of sand movers, shrouding around and at the end of the of test results that find and dragon’s tail). measure hazards. • Use door seals and HEPA filtration on enclosed operator cabs or booths where possible. Workers may confidentially • Use local exhaust ventilation on machines or equipment to collect ask OSHA to inspect their dust. workplace if they believe that • Replace transfer belts with screw augers on sand movers in new their employer is not following designs or retrofits. OSHA standards or that there are serious hazards.  Use respirators when required. When respirators are required, your employer must have a Workers have the right to respiratory protection program that meets the requirements of use their rights under the law, OSHA’s Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR 1910.134). This including their right to report a program must include proper respirator selection, fit testing, medical work-related injury or illness, evaluations, and training. All respirators need to be NIOSH-approved. free from discrimination or retaliation.  Inform and train workers on the hazards of silica and other chemicals. For more information, to ask a OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard requires your employer to question, or to file a complaint, provide workers training and access to safety data sheets (SDSs) on visit www.OSHA.gov or call silica sand and other hazardous chemicals used or produced during 1-800-321-OSHA (6742). It is hydraulic fracturing operations. confidential.

This InfoSheet is advisory in nature and informational in content. It is not a standard or regulation, and it neither creates new legal obligations nor alters existing obligations created by OSHA standards or the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). Pursuant to the OSH Act, employers must comply with safety and health standards and regulations issued and enforced either by OSHA or by an OSHA-approved state plan. In addition, the Act’s General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1), requires employers to provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. The mention of any nongovernmental organization or link to its web site in this InfoSheet does not constitute an endorsement by OSHA of that organization or its products, services, or web site.

OSHA 3622-12 2012