Silica Awareness Training
How To Work Safely With Crystalline Silica
100% online – Just $55.00
What is Crystalline Silica
Crystalline silica (silica) is found in sand, stone, concrete and mortar. It is also used to make a variety of products including composite stone used to fabricate kitchen and bathroom benchtops, bricks, tiles and some plastics.
Engineered stone can have very high quantities of crystalline silica, which is released when the stone is cut, ground, drilled or abrasively polished.
Common materials and products that contain silica include:
- Stone products (natural and engineered)
- Composite dental fillings
- Manufactured timber
- Bricks
- Cement
- Asphalt
- Grout
- Mortar
- Tiles
- Even some plastic material
Will you need Silica Awareness Training?
When workers cut, crush, drill, polish, saw or grind products that contain silica, dust particles are generated that are small enough to lodge deep in the lungs and cause illness or disease including silicosis.
According to the Cancer Council approximately 587,000 Australian workers were exposed to silica dust in the workplace in 2011. It has been estimated that 5758 of these will develop a lung cancer over the course of their life as a result of that exposure.
Activities that release silica dust into the air include:
- Excavation, earth moving and drilling plant operations
- Clay and stone processing machine operations
- Cutting and laying pavers and surfacing
- Mining, quarrying and mineral ore treating processes
- Road construction and tunnelling
- Construction, building and demolition
- Brick, concrete or stone cutting
- Abrasive blasting (blasting agent must not contain greater than 1% of crystalline silica)
- Foundry casting
- Angle grinding, jack hammering and chiselling of concrete or masonry
- Hydraulic fracturing of gas and oil wells
- Pottery
- Crushing, loading, hauling and dumping of rock, or muck from tunnelling
- Clean-up activities such as sweeping or pressurised air blowing of dust
Silica Awareness For Employers
An employer (PCBU) at a workplace must manage the risks to health and safety associated with crystalline silica, that is reasonably likely to cause injury to the person or any other person. The employer (PCBU) must protect anyone that works with, or could be exposed to, silica.
A code of practice is a practical guide on how to comply with the legal duties under the Work (or Occupational) Health and Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations. Codes of practice have a special status because an approved code is automatically admissible as evidence in court proceedings under the WHS Act and Regulations. Courts may have regard to a code as evidence of what is known about a hazard, risk or control and may rely on the code in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to which the code relates.
Available Resources: Safe Work Australia
Silica Awareness Training Details
Statement of Attendance
- 100% Online
- Train at your own pace
- Same Day Statement of Attendance
- Generally participants complete the course in 45 – 60 minutes
Cost
- Just $55.00
- For face to face training or group bookings please call us
Course Overview
This unit of competency specifies the outcomes required to apply safe work practices involving Crystalline Silica. It applies to employers (PCBU) and workers that may be exposed to Crystalline Silica.
It includes preparing, containing and removing Crystalline Silica, and knowledge of decontamination and disposal requirements.
Course Outline
1. Plan for crystalline silica
2. Prepare for crystalline silica
3. Working with crystalline silica
4. Clean up work area
Pre-Requisites For Silica Awareness Training
Participants must:
- Have at least a Year 10 level of numeracy, literacy and communication skills
- Have the ability to read and write English
- Contact us if you have any concerns about your level of language literacy or numeracy
For more information feel free to contact us.