Respirable Crystaline Silica (RCS)

When materials containing crystalline silica are processed (such as when they are cut, sanded, polished, drilled, or crushed), they can release tiny silica dust particles into the air. These particles are called respirable crystalline silica (RCS). They’re so small you can’t see them, and they can stay in the air for a long time.

Breathing in RCS can cause serious irreversible lung diseases like silicosis and lung cancer. These diseases can take years to show symptoms and may keep getting worse even after stopping exposure to RCS. All silica-related diseases are preventable by using controls that eliminate or effectively minimise exposure to RCS.

Work activities that can generate respirable crystalline silica 

Silica is one of the most abundant minerals found in the earth’s crust and is found in many products across a variety of industries and workplaces. Examples of work that can generate respirable crystalline silica include:

  • using power tools to cut, grind or polish natural and engineered stone countertops
  • angle grinding, cutting, jack hammering and chiselling concrete or masonry
  • excavation, earth moving and drilling operations
  • mining, quarrying, mineral ore treating processes
  • mechanical screening
  • road construction and tunnelling
  • cutting and laying pavers
  • construction, building, and demolition
  • crushing, loading, hauling and dumping of rock or construction waste
  • foundry casting
  • pottery making
  • clean-up activities (e.g. sweeping)
  • hydraulic fracturing of gas and oil wells, and
  • abrasive blasting.

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