This is the fourth part in an occasional series on silicosis.
Assemblywoman Luz Rivas has been fighting to protect stone fabrication workers from developing silicosis, a deadly long-term occupational lung disease that has been plaguing the East San Fernando Valley.
“If there isn’t any way to assure that these workspaces are safe, then there does need to be a ban,” said Rivas, who represents the East Valley.
She admitted that even her kitchen counters are made of the popular engineered stone, “But I don’t want them if it means that someone dies to cut that. And I believe that the public will feel the same way.”
Despite the valley being the epicenter, the issue of silicosis extends beyond Los Angeles city or county.
“This is a statewide problem that requires a statewide solution,” said Rivas. “We can’t do this county by county.”
Despite the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California (Cal/OSHA) inspecting and even shutting down some non-compliant workplaces in the San Fernando Valley, Rivas said, manufacturers are “going to a different county – reopening in Ventura County, they’re going to Kern County – that have no inspections, no regulation.”
Last year Rivas put forward Assembly Bill (AB) 3043, the Silicosis Prevention Act – a legislation to protect manufactured stone fabrication workers from contracting silicosis.
AB 3043 would have required the State to create a public website to track stone fabrication shops’ compliance with updated state regulations, prohibit dry cutting of manufactured stones, establish a licensure system for fabrication shops and require workers to be trained on proper protection and safety protocols.
“I met with representatives from state agencies and the administration, and I found that there was a lot of pushback to this solution, mainly because of the cost,” said Rivas.
Administrators didn’t want to work with her on finding a solution, she said, wanting to continue with the Cal/OSHA emergency temporary standards instead, which Rivas believes don’t go far enough to protect workers.
Rivas pulled the legislation, knowing she wouldn’t get the support to pass it in time.
With Rivas leaving the State Assembly for the position of House Representative for the 29th Congressional District, she is looking for other state representatives to carry the fight forward in California.
State Sen. Caroline Menjivar may be the next to carry the torch.
“I have brought to the legislature my years of local experience within my communities and am now turning my attention to this inexcusable workplace hazard that has been thrust upon workers who are more vulnerable to exploitation due to their economic status, immigration status, or family financial obligations,” said Menjivar in a statement following a community forum she co-hosted earlier this month in Canoga Park alongside health experts and city, county and Cal/OSHA representatives.
“As state legislators, we must step in now, and enact more robust oversight of employers to make certain they are following workplace standards and training workers on best practices for their safety and health,” the statement continued.
Menjivar added that she is researching possible legislation regarding silicosis, and hinted at the potential of announcing a 2025 bill when the legislature reconvenes in January.
The silicosis issues may be much older than we think. Shops have just started wet cutting in the past 7 or 8 years. Many of these people who contracted probably have developed the disease of many years. The shops that do not wet cut need to be closed. There is also trying to shift the entire market of quartz to a Crystalline Silica free product.