Silica Exposure Control Plan Template
Every construction employer covered by the silica standard needs this document, whether it follows Table 1 or samples the air. It is short. It just has to be specific: the task, the tool, the control, the respirator, the person who checks.
Pre-filled for a masonry package. Every box is editable; add a row for each silica task on the job.
Written exposure control plan — respirable crystalline silica
(g)(1)(i)–(ii) · one row per task
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
What a silica exposure control plan is
The written plan required by 1926.1153(g). The standard applies to all occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica in construction work unless exposure will stay below 25 µg/m³ as an 8-hour TWA under any foreseeable conditions — so if your crews cut, drill or grind concrete, masonry or stone, assume it applies. Paragraph (g) sets four required elements and three duties around the plan:
| Paragraph | Element | What it must cover |
|---|---|---|
| (g)(1)(i) | Tasks | Each task in the workplace that involves exposure |
| (g)(1)(ii) | Controls per task | Engineering controls, work practices and respiratory protection for each task |
| (g)(1)(iii) | Housekeeping | The measures used to limit exposure |
| (g)(1)(iv) | Access | Procedures to restrict access, including exposures generated by other employers or sole proprietors |
| (g)(2) | Review | At least annually, updated as necessary |
| (g)(3) | Availability | Readily available to each covered employee and their representatives on request |
| (g)(4) | Competent person | Frequent and regular inspections of job sites, materials and equipment |
Read from 29 CFR 1926.1153(g) on 2026-10-18.
How to fill it in
- List the tasks by tool, not by trade. “Masonry” is not a task. “Handheld saw cutting block outdoors, about two hours a shift” is, and it maps to a row of Table 1.
- Copy the Table 1 control exactly. Water delivery, shroud, dust collector airflow, filter efficiency — Table 1 only protects you if it is fully and properly implemented.
- Pick the respirator column honestly. If one operator does more than four hours of Table 1 tasks in a shift, every one of those tasks takes the >4-hour column ((c)(3)).
- Write housekeeping as rules, not intentions. No dry sweeping, no compressed air, unless the exceptions in (f) genuinely apply.
- Name the competent person — a name, with the authority to stop the cut. See competent person under OSHA.
Caution
The example, read back
The pre-filled plan covers three common tasks on a masonry package. The block cutting is Table 1 row (ii) outdoors: water at the blade, no respirator for four hours or less, APF 10 above that. The anchor drilling is row (vii): a shroud and dust collector, a HEPA vacuum for the holes, no respirator. The tuckpointing is row (xi), the hardest-working row in the table: APF 10 up to four hours and APF 25 beyond.
Anyone in an APF row needs the respiratory program that comes with it — medical evaluation, then a fit test. If they will wear it for 30 or more days a year, medical surveillance under (h) applies too. Break each task into steps on a JHA and brief it at the toolbox talk before the first cut.