for general industry and construction employers. The challenges had been filed by various industry trade groups representing the construction, foundry & manufacturing industries. The final portion of the rule, affecting general industry employers, including foundries, is now slated to take effect in a little over a month. An earlier rule affecting only the construction industry already took effect last year. The regulation cuts the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for Respirable Crystalline Silica in half, from 100 micrograms per cubic meter of air, to 50 and creates dozens of new obligations related to written exposure control programs, medical exams for affected employees, respiratory protection, house-keeping, engineering controls, and training. The groups challenging the new requirements made several arguments, including that the rule will not have a material effect on the prevention of deaths from diseases such as silicosis and lung cancer, and that the new rule is not technologically or economically feasible. They had also argued that OSHA violated several administrative procedural requirements in promulgating the new rule. The court not only rejected all of those arguments, but sided with labor groups, including the AFL-CIO, who argued that the rule didn’t go far enough in protecting workers because it lacked “medical removal” provisions which would have required employees to be removed from jobs when they became ill, and only required medical surveillance for employees who were exposed for 30 days per year or more. The court rejected the latter argument but agreed with the first, calling OSHA’s actions in foregoing these protections “arbitrary and capricious”. The court ordered OSHA to reconsider and further explain that aspect of the rule. If you have questions OSHA’s requirements related to Respirable Crystalline Silica and what employers need to do to comply, please call Sotera Consulting, LLC at (612)597-6463 or paul@soteraconsulting.com. Governmental Update Governmental Liaison: Therese M. Benkowski, Weather-Or-Not Consulting, Inc. MCM continues to follow legislative bills at the State Capitol. As of the writing of this article, the hot issues this session include tax reform, transportation, workforce development, and environmental regulatory reform. The Minnesota Chamber is working hard at getting our legislators to understand that Minnesota business taxes are the 3rd highest corporate tax rate in the nation and the 4th highest personal income taxes. It is the hope that with this in mind, the
Budget Surplus will be allocated for tax cuts and to return some of that money back into the pockets of the taxpayers. On the side of transportation, the Chamber is supporting a constitutional amendment to dedicate 100% of auto sales taxes toward road funds. Support for this issue is recognized in the Vote Yes 4 Roads campaign. Efforts by members of Minnesota Manufacturers Coalition and the Chamber continue toward workforce development. On the environmental side of things, the Chamber is supporting a bill to further streamline environmental review and permitting. Many of the changes relate to wetland mitigation and water quality standards. And lastly the Chamber supports holding a statewide primary election in June instead of August to promote better candidate and voter turnout. Minnesota has a short session this year with Constitutional Adjournment scheduled for May 21st, so progress of each item will need to move quickly. Feel free to contact your legislators to make your voice heard on any of the pending bills. You may also contact any of the Board members if your organization needs support from the industry to deal with an issue. MPCA Opportunity: The MPCA is offering grant money for facilities that can reduce Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions. This grant opportunity is intended to help businesses upgrade to alternative products or processes that put fewer VOCs into the air. The maximum grant award is $24,000 with a 50% required match. Deadline for grant applications is May 18, 2018 by 4:30pm. Special consideration will be given for innovative projects from targeted applicants in environmental justice and highly urbanized areas. Details can be found on the MPCA’s website. Contact Eric David at or 651-757-2218. New Silica-Free Absorbent! SpillFix is excited to announce that the Occupational Health & Safety magazine New Product of the Year is now available in Minnesota through Mars Supply. SpillFix is made from a bi-product of the coconut (coir), which is an organic renewable resource that is non-carcinogenic, contains no chemicals and is silica free. It
instantly absorbs hazardous liquid spills on contact including oils, fuels, solvents, paints and chemicals, enabling faster, cleaner, safer and more effective clean up with minimal downtime. When compared to clay-based absorbents, SpillFix clients need 80 percent less product to clean up spills in less than half the time. SpillFix is also landfill safe, providing lower disposal cost than other absorbent products with no environmental impact. For further information or product demonstration, contact Mars Supply at 952-884-9388. Also available in 7 & 20-pound bags. You’re invited Correlate. Connect. Change. Why integrate health management and workers’ compensation? A Minnesota manufacturer with more than 400 employees made the decision to become the employer of choice in its community and gain many related advantages, such as improved employee recruiting and retention, better morale and productivity, and reduced costs. Challenges With an aging workforce, rising cost and limited internal and external resources, our client knew they needed to address their employees’ health, well-being and safety. Solutions Associated Benefits and Risk Consulting dove into their employee populations data and developed solutions to: Improve the health of employees and their families