Photo: House Judiciary Committee
Washington — Should the stone slab industry be protected from “abusive litigation” or should it substitute engineered stone with a product that creates less silica dust?
Proponents of each argument clashed Jan. 14 during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing that centered on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Stone Slab Products Act (H.R. 5437).
Introduced by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) on Sept. 17 and currently before the House Judiciary Committee, the bill would shield stone slab manufacturers and sellers from liability in lawsuits brought by “persons who claim personal injuries as a result of exposure to silica dust produced during the alteration of such products in the course of their employment by third-party fabricators.”
The bill’s authors claim that “manufacturers and sellers of these products have no control over these fabricators.”
Industry experts and the Republicans on the House Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Subcommittee, including Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who chairs the subcommittee, repeated the claim.
“Reputable fabricating firms follow best practices. This includes at a minimum [wet cutting methods]. Many also use completely enclosed CNC (computer numerical control) machines,” Issa said during the hearing, adding that best practices don’t exempt litigation from proceeding “even though [the firms] can demonstrate they’re well below OSHA’s acceptable level (for silica exposure).”
On the other hand, Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (D-GA), ranking member of the subcommittee, said, “The bill behind today’s hearing would give blanket immunity to artificial stone manufacturers and suppliers, preventing injured workers from seeking justice in court. It would dismiss the hundreds of cases pending against these manufacturers.
“For those of you who are saying someone else is to blame – that employers are the real villains: Our courts determine liability all the time. People petition the court, have their grievances heard, a judge and jury consider the evidence, and a judgment is rendered.”
Johnson later added: “Manufacturers are asking for a different scenario – one where the deep pockets go to Congress, Congress makes a snap judgment and the big businesses never have to go to court again. That’s not how our justice system is supposed to work, and I condemn the blatant misuse of this committee to shield corporations at the expense of the American worker.”
One of the subcommittee’s witnesses, former OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels, said the industry should follow the Hierarchy of Controls, namely substitution.
“The epidemic of silicosis in artificial stone workers was identified in Australia before the epidemic was identified in the United States,” he said. “Australia has not banned lawsuits. After careful study, Australia banned the deadly product. In response, countertop manufacturers have found a safer substitute, and many of the same manufacturers now sell the safer product in Australia and earn profits through these sales.
“The same Australian workers are now fabricating countertops. But unlike those U.S. workers who still fabricate artificial stone silica countertops, these Australian workers are able to go home to their families at the end of their shifts as healthy as when they started that day.”
In September 2023, OSHA launched an initiative intended to protect workers in the engineered stone fabrication and installation industries from silica exposure. The action followed a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, released in 2019, that warned of “an emerging public health threat” after researchers identified an increase in cases of silicosis among stone countertop workers. As early as 2015, OSHA and NIOSH published a joint hazard alert warning of the risk.
In December 2024, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board unanimously voted to make permanent an emergency temporary standard, in place since 2023, aimed at safeguarding workers who handle engineered stone.
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication