The American Industrial Hygiene Association® (AIHA) has released the white paper titled “Recommended Skills and Capabilities for Silica Competent Persons,” which represents a common, minimum body of knowledge needed by a competent person to provide meaningful worker protection from silica. The document was prepared by the AIHA Construction Committee Silica Competent Person Project Team.

OSHA’s Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) has recommended that OSHA utilize a competent person approach for the upcoming proposed silica in construction rule. In addition, the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Construction goals for silica identified competent person training needs as an area for partnering and development. A silica competent person is capable of recognizing and evaluating situations where overexposure may be occurring; knows how to evaluate the exposure potential; and can make recommendations for exposure control. This document provides a list of recommended subject-specific skills and competency objectives a silica competent person should have to enable them to perform the job successfully.

Click here to read the full text of this AIHA white paper.

For more information on AIHA Government Affairs, please contact Aaron Trippler at atrippler@aiha.org or (703)846-0730.