A new rule affecting most general contractors will take effect next month, but the extent of Oregon’s rule won’t be known for sure for a bit longer.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration‘s new crystalline silica rule is set to kick in June 23, at which point construction contractors will have one year to become compliant. (Other industries have an extra year.) But Oregon, which has its own OSHA program, still has time to devise its own rule, so long as it goes above and beyond the federal guidelines.

In the next few months Oregon OSHA will assemble stakeholder groups and determine what tweaks, if any, should be proposed, said Aaron Corvin, a spokesman for the state division.

“There is some room there, but at this point, I wouldn’t expect that what we adopt would be significantly different from what (federal OSHA) has adopted,” he said. “But, again, we have a process that we have to go through, and we don’t know what will be proposed.

“We do agree that this change that’s been made will afford workers greater protection.”

The new standard boils down to companies limiting employees’ exposure to respirable crystalline silica, which is often produced by common construction tasks like grinding, drilling and jackhammering. Exposure to silica dust has been linked to kidney disease and respiratory diseases like lung cancer, according to an OSHA fact sheet.

Construction companies covered by the standard will be required to write an exposure control plan, restrict practices that expose workers to silica where alternatives are available, keep exposure records and offer medical exams to employees who are regularly exposed to silica. The standards also advise business owners to adopt exposure control methods such as using water to keep dust from getting into the air, or using ventilation to capture dust.

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