Among several initiatives being taken by the two organizations is a series of seminars for stone fabricators. These one-day sessions educate stoneworking professionals on OSHA standards, and they are specifically geared towards the stone industry. In addition to classroom instruction - including a detailed session on silicosis - a shop “walk-through” educates participants on specific hazards within a stoneworking facility that can be cited by OSHA. (A full report on one of these sessions can be found in the December 2007 issue of Stone World from pages 96 to 114.) The first OSHA/MIA presentation of 2008 took place on January 24 in Miami, FL, and future sessions this year will be held in Los Angeles, CA (March 11), San Diego, CA (March 13) and Boston, MA (April 17).
Specific to silicosis, a new safety video produced by the MIA - with grants from DuPont Surfaces and Water Treatment Technologies - will focus on this disabling, nonreversible and sometimes fatal lung disease caused by overexposure to respirable crystalline silica (granite dust).