Focus

As Professional Roofing has reported, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding worker exposure to silica.

The proposed rule would require employers to conduct air monitoring in work areas where there is reason to suspect silica exposure may exceed 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air as an eight-hour, time-weighted average. If exposures exceed the permissible exposure limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, employers are required to use engineering controls and work practices to reduce the exposures unless using these controls is infeasible or creates greater hazards.

NRCA has been working to gather data, share information and encourage members to contact their congressional representatives. In a letter to members, NRCA Executive Vice President Bill Good outlines the effects of the proposed rule and ways the roofing industry and NRCA can work together to provide OSHA with more reliable data. Members can view the letter at www.nrca.net/roofing/1013-silica-letter.

NRCA recently issued another important members-only informational document: A Roofing Contractor's Guide to the Affordable Care Act. Written by Atlanta-based law firm Hendrick, Phillips, Salzman & Flatt, the comprehensive document provides invaluable information about the new health care law, as well as examples members can apply to their businesses. The document can be found online in the Members Only and Safety and Insurance sections of NRCA's website, www.nrca.net. Nonmembers can purchase the document for $55 in the NRCA Bookstore, shop.nrca.net.

These two documents are the most recent examples of how NRCA is providing its members with exclusive, useful information that will help them manage their businesses within the parameters of the health care law and proposed silica rule. For more information about other members-only benefits, contact Alison LaValley, NRCA's vice president of operations, at (800) 323-9545, ext. 7573 or alavalley@nrca.net.

Ambika Puniani Bailey is editor of Profes­sional Roofing and NRCA's associate executive director of communications and production.