January 2002
People
Ask
the Experts
Crystalline Silica—A Threat?
NSSGA
Introduces
New Silica Risk Communication Handbook
Crystalline Silica—A Threat?
Q. We’ve been hearing a lot about crystalline silica and the potential ramifications it may have on our industry. How can we prepare to communicate about this issue with our employees, neighbors and communities?
A. It would be very easy for producer members to dismiss concerns that might be expressed concerning the potential of negative health impacts from crystalline silica. When the risk is measured and weighed against the potential of being hit by a bus, you might conclude that the logical person would find other, more significant concerns to pass their time. Of course, we have been told that the perception and risk management don’t work in classical logical sequences. Therefore, be prepared. And how, you might ask “Can we be prepared for something that might be a non-issue and might be blown up into a front page, lead story on the 6 p.m. news?”
Let’s begin with the most obvious observation. Have you addressed problem dust issues in your plant area? As a neighbor, I would wonder how serious you are about protecting me, if you have not taken the proper steps to first protect your employees. The best defense is to make sure your house is in order, since any efforts made to reduce exposure at the source will benefit those further away.
If you have not addressed this issue with your employees, you should, but remember, you will be judged by your employees based on your commitment to their health and safety. Therefore, your actions will speak louder than your words.
A question that comes up from time to time is “Should this ‘threat’ of crystalline silica be addressed with the neighbors and public around our operations?” There is no correct answer for all operations. Some operators have actually had meetings with the neighbors and as part of the agenda discussed crystalline silica. In most cases, these meetings have been well received, and the public comes away from those meetings feeling good about the company that makes such a disclosure. One caution, in most cases, the companies that are willing to do this have taken care of their housekeeping issues and further have a history of working and talking to their neighbors. Making a “cold call” to your neighbors to tell them that your company is putting a carcinogen in the air, but don’t worry about it, may not be the smartest move. It is much easier to relay any kind of information about operations when you have a clear line of communications with the neighborhood already established. Trying to establish a line of communication using a negative and explosive issue is not advised.
Being prepared to answer questions about the crystalline silica issue is important. When asked about the issue, your answers must be forthright and understandable. Be sure that whomever you choose to talk about the issue knows enough to address it and answer the potential questions that are sure to come up. There is ample information in the industry to address just about any question that could be asked. However, if you are not prepared, you will obviously look bad and a bad answer will not instill the confidence that you wish to inspire with your answer.
No matter what your relationship with a community, this type of issue can become explosive. So how do you prepare for the flood of questions and scrutiny that this issue could generate? This is where a crisis management plan can serve as a check dam. Any crisis plan should designate a company spokesperson to handle inquiries. The spokesperson being well versed in knowing what to say and more important, how to say it, will help ensure that the information coming from the company is accurate and in a form to stem anger, concern and fear. Gathering information ahead of time on issues like crystalline silica is wise. Again, this information is available through the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association or perhaps your company has an occupational health program that can assist in putting together the relevant facts.
Bottom line—the “crystalline silica threat” should be a threat only in the public relations sense, not a threat to the health of employees and neighbors. Certainly in the case of the latter, there has never been a case of silicosis outside of the occupational setting. In other words, the threats of lung impairment due to overexposures have always been associated with the threat to employees—not neighbors.
While some people will overreact and refuse to let their kids play in sand because of the warning label on the bag, most will assess the potential risk and assign to it the weight it is due.
Ask the Experts is written by industry leaders on topics in their area of expertise.
New Silica Risk Communication Handbook
Washington—The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) announced the publication of its new Silica Risk Communication Handbook for the aggregate industry this month.
Crystalline silica is known to cause a disabling lung disease called silicosis in some workers over-exposed to the mineral over time, and some scientists believe it may be linked to lung cancer. As a result, respirable silica dust and its control have become a significant issue. The main purpose of the new Silica Risk Communication Handbook is to help the aggregate industry communicate rationally and effectively about silica using scientific principles of risk communication to those who may have concerns about silica dust. The handbook is a companion to NSSGA’s previously published Community Relations Handbook for the Aggregates Industry and builds on the communication techniques in that publication. It was developed by aggregate industry silica specialists, working with world-renowned risk communication experts.
The heart of the risk communication handbook is a detailed framework, including issue-oriented messages that you can use to communicate to various constituencies with an interest in silica. These messages are readily adaptable to your unique situation. Those audiences include miners, regulators, community activists and customers.
- The Silica Risk Communication Handbook also contains:
- A prototype company policy statement on silica dust;
- Background information on silica-related health issues;
- Generic standard communication procedures that companies can customize for their own use; and
- Text for a crystalline silica/occupational health brochure that companies can use for their own employee or community relations activities.
The Silica Risk Communication Handbook, priced at $120 ($75 NSSGA member discount), plus shipping and handling, can be ordered by calling NSSGA publication sales at (703) 525-8788.