Air and health monitoring

Air monitoring for respirable crystalline silica

Air monitoring is a method of measuring airborne hazardous substances. It is not a control measure, but can be used to check the effectiveness of the control measures you implement to minimise the risks of exposure to silica dust.

The mandatory limit for silica dust in the ACT is an eight hour time weighted average (TWA) of 0.05 mg/m³. However, there is still a risk to worker health at this concentration. Therefore, exposure must be reduced as far as possible under this TWA.

The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 states that the workplace exposure standard must not be exceeded and air monitoring must be conducted if there is a potential risk to health or a possibility that the exposure limits could be exceeded.

A PCBU must review any control measures implemented, if a workplace exposure standard for silica dust has been exceeded.

Air monitoring should only be conducted by a competent person, such as a Certified Occupational Hygienist. The competent person that completed the air monitoring should also be the one to prepare the air monitoring report. Air monitoring records must be readily available to workers and records of results kept for 30 years.

Health monitoring

The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 states that health monitoring must be provided to workers who are continually working with silica dust and there is a significant risk to the worker’s health.

Health monitoring is carried out or supervised by a specialist doctor and may include:

answering questions regarding previous occupational and medical history
a physical examination or a spirometry (lung function test)
clinical tests – urine or blood samples, and
X-rays or HRCT.

Health monitoring can help to detect early symptoms of exposure, such as a loss in lung function, before permanent damage occurs. Health monitoring for working with silica and silica containing products should begin before job placement and at least every three years; annually for high-risk jobs such as working with engineered stone. Workers largely employed in high-risk jobs include residential construction workers who fabricate or install engineered stone products, excavators, jackhammer operators or abrasive blasters.

Health monitoring requirements

The PCBU should inform workers about health monitoring requirements before they start work and provide information about:

what is involved in the health monitoring program, for example how often testing might occur and which tests might be required
what health monitoring aims to achieve and its benefits
how and who to report symptoms
potential health effects from exposure to silica dust
record keeping requirements, and
the worker’s health monitoring report.

Who does health monitoring?

Health monitoring must be carried out by, or under the supervision of, a registered medical practitioner (doctor) with experience in health monitoring. Not all of the tests and procedures in a health monitoring program need to be carried out by the doctor. Some can be performed by other suitably qualified people, for example an occupational nurse may ask a worker general questions about their medical history, and collect urine or blood samples. While worker’s will be consulted about the choice of doctor used for the health monitoring, in most cases it will not be the worker’s own medical practitioner unless they have the necessary experience to do the work.

Who pays for health monitoring?

The PCBU who engages the worker must pay all the expenses related to a health monitoring program. These expenses include:

doctor’s fees
testing and analysis costs, and
travel costs.

The PCBU must also allow paid time off work to attend medical appointments for any testing that is needed.

Health monitoring report

The doctor prepares the health monitoring report. It must include:

worker details, the name and address of the business or undertaking, and the name of the doctor
any test results that indicate whether or not exposure to silica dust
any advice that test results indicate a disease, injury or illness as a result of being exposed to silica dust, and
any recommendations and actions requiring new or changed control measures or medical counselling, including whether a worker can continue work.

The doctor should let the worker know the results of health monitoring and will send a confidential copy of the report to the PCBU. The PCBU must provide a copy of this report to the workers as soon as they are able.

The health monitoring report is a confidential health record and must not be disclosed to another person except in accordance with the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 or without the worker’s written consent.