News Aggregates Roads & Paving
More data collected on silica control in roadbuilding

Strides have been made over the past several years to strengthen the BC Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA) silica control tool for the roadbuilding sector with more industry data contributed.

Dawson Construction, part of the Kamloops’ Dawson Group, has been supplying data to the tool after the company learned it did not have exposure information on asphalt plant operations. The mobile units worked onsite in conjunction with rock-crushing equipment. Silica is found in a number of roadbuilding and construction materials such as concrete, rock or old asphalt, and once airborne, particulate can cause lung scarring and lead to cancer.

The process was not inexpensive as the company equipped onsite workers such as a loader operator, control booth operator and the asphalt plant technician with high-vis vest that had sampling pumps and filters to wear during their shifts. The samples detailed the employee’s shift, location, type of work performed, and were shipped to a lab in Edmonton, Alta.

(Canada Construct Connect)