Public Comments
Help Us Get the Petition Right Before It Goes to Cal/OSHA.
ISFA is preparing a petition asking the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to require fabrication shop registration and independent third-party compliance audits — so that every shop cutting silica-containing surfaces in California can show it follows the law. Before we file, we want to hear from the people who will live with it: shop owners, workers, suppliers, builders, designers, health professionals, regulators, and the public.
The Petition, In Plain Language
What We Are Asking For
Here is the petition in plain words, part by part. The full legal text appears below.
Part 1
Petitioner and Standing
What It Says
Who is filing, under what authority, and why ISFA has standing to speak for fabrication shops.
What it Means for a Shop
Tells the Board who ISFA is and why fabricators have a voice here.
Part 2
Statement of Request
What It Says
What ISFA is asking the Board to do: adopt a shop registration and third-party compliance audit requirement.
What it Means for a Shop
Asks for registration + audit instead of, or at least before, a ban.
§ 5204.X
Scope and Definitions
What It Says
Defines fabrication shop, registered shop, third-party auditor, attestation, competent person, and covered materials.
What it Means for a Shop
Sets out who is covered — every shop that cuts silica-containing slabs, not just engineered stone.
§ 5204.X
Fabrication Shop Registration
What It Says
Every fabrication location registers with basic business, workforce, materials, and insurance information.
What it Means for a Shop
You register each shop location once a year with basic info and proof of workers’ comp.
§ 5204.X
Third-Party Compliance Audit
What It Says
An independent ISO 45001 auditor checks the shop against existing section 5204 requirements; nothing new is added to the law.
What it Means for a Shop
An independent auditor visits and checks you against rules you already have to follow.
§ 5204.X
Designated Competent Persons and Daily Housekeeping CHecks
What It Says
Each shop names two competent persons who check dust controls and housekeeping throughout every shift.
What it Means for a Shop
You name two people who check dust controls and cleanup through every shift.
§ 5204.X
Corrective Action and Re-Audit
What It Says
Shops that do not pass get a written corrective action plan, a deadline, and a re-audit; imminent hazards stop work.
What it Means for a Shop
If you miss something, you get a written list and time to fix it. Dangerous conditions stop now.
§ 5204.X
Public Registry and Attestation
What It Says
A public online registry shows each location’s current pass/fail status so buyers can choose compliant shops.
What it Means for a Shop
Customers can look you up. Your detailed results stay private.
§ 5204.X
Supply-Chain Condition: Registered Shops Only
What It Says
Manufacturers and distributors may sell covered slabs in California only to registered, passing fabrication locations.
What it Means for a Shop
Suppliers sell slabs only to shops that are registered and passing.
§ 5204.X
Worker Protections: Training, Medical Surveillance, and Workers' COmpensation
What It Says
Confirms every fabrication worker is trained in their language, receives required medical exams, and is covered by workers’ comp.
What it Means for a Shop
Your crew is trained in their language, gets medical exams, and is covered by workers’ comp.
§ 5204.X
Oversight, Independence, and Appeals
What It Says
How auditors are approved, how conflicts are prevented, and how a shop can appeal a result.
What it Means for a Shop
Auditors are independent, no association makes the final call, and you can appeal.
§ 5204.X
Six-Month Feasibility Pilot and Reporting
What It Says
A six-month California pilot tests the system and reports aggregate results to the Board and Advisory Committee.
What it Means for a Shop
A six-month California test comes first, with results reported openly.
Part 3
Justification and Need
What It Says
Why registration and audit address the real problem: shops that are not following existing law.
What it Means for a Shop
Explains why checking compliance targets the real problem.
Part 4
Economic and Small-Business Impact
What It Says
Expected costs to shops and the State, and how grant funding reduces the burden on small shops.
What it Means for a Shop
Estimates your costs and explains grant help for small shops.
Part 5
Enforcement Coordination with Cal/OSHA
What It Says
The audit system supports, and does not replace, Cal/OSHA enforcement.
What it Means for a Shop
Cal/OSHA keeps full power to inspect and cite; the audit helps them focus.
Full Petition Language
Read the Draft Petition
Draft for Public Comment - Not Yet Filed
- Part I — Petitioner and Standing
- Part II — Statement of Request
- § 5204.X — Scope and Definitions
- § 5204.X — Fabrication Shop Registration
- § 5204.X — Third-Party Compliance Audit
- § 5204.X — Designated Competent Persons and Daily Housekeeping Checks
- § 5204.X — Corrective Action and Re-Audit
- § 5204.X — Public Registry and Attestation
- § 5204.X — Supply-Chain Condition: Registered Shops Only
- § 5204.X — Worker Protections: Training, Medical Surveillance, and Workers' Compensation
- § 5204.X — Oversight, Independence, and Appeals
- § 5204.X — Six-Month Feasibility Pilot and Reporting
- Part III — Justification and Need
- Part IV — Economic and Small-Business Impact
- Part V — Enforcement Coordination with Cal/OSHA
Draft for Public Comment – Not Filed Yet
Before the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, State of California
Petition to Adopt Section [5204.X], Fabrication Shop Registration and Third-Party Compliance Audit, and Amend Section 5204, Title 8, California Code of Regulations
PART I — PETITIONER AND STANDING
Petitioner: International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA), a 501(c)(6) trade association representing countertop and surface fabrication shops, acting with the American Countertop Manufacturers Council (ACMC), ISFA’s fabricator-only consensus council.
Authority: This petition is submitted to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board under Labor Code section 142.2, which allows any interested person to petition the Board to adopt, amend, or repeal an occupational safety and health standard.
Interest: ISFA’s members are the employers whose shops, workers, and livelihoods are directly affected by any rule governing the fabrication of engineered stone and other silica-containing surfaces in California.
PART II — STATEMENT OF REQUEST
Petitioner requests that the Board adopt a new section [5204.X], Fabrication Shop Registration and Third-Party Compliance Audit, and conforming amendments to section 5204, requiring every employer that fabricates silica-containing countertop and surface materials in California to (a) register each fabrication location, (b) pass an independent third-party compliance audit against the existing requirements of section 5204, and (c) maintain that status as a condition of fabricating.
Petitioner asks the Board to consider this requirement as an alternative to a prohibition on fabrication, and, at minimum, as a required condition during any transition, phase-in, or variance period the Board adopts.
§ 5204.X — SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS
(1) Scope. This section applies to every employer that cuts, grinds, polishes, edges, drills, or otherwise fabricates or modifies countertop or surface slabs containing crystalline silica at a fixed location or on a jobsite in California.
(2) “Covered material” means engineered (artificial) stone, natural stone, porcelain, sintered stone, and any other slab product containing more than [0.1 / 1.0] percent crystalline silica by weight, as shown on the safety data sheet or by testing.
(3) “Fabrication location” means each fixed shop and each mobile fabrication unit operated by the employer.
(4) “Third-party auditor” means an individual who holds a current ISO 45001 Lead Auditor credential from a recognized certification body, has completed silica and fabrication-specific auditor training approved under subsection (i), and has no financial or employment relationship with the audited employer or with any manufacturer or distributor supplying it.
(5) “Attestation” means a written pass/fail determination that a fabrication location met the audit criteria on the date of audit. An attestation is not a license, permit, or certification of product safety.
(6) “Competent person” means an individual designated by the employer who is capable of identifying existing and foreseeable respirable crystalline silica hazards and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures.
§ 5204.X — Fabrication Shop Registration
(1) Each employer shall register each fabrication location within [90] days of the effective date of this section, and before beginning fabrication at any new location.
(2) Registration shall include: legal business name and form of organization; physical address of each location; number of employees performing fabrication tasks; covered materials fabricated; proof of current workers’ compensation insurance; name of each designated competent person; and a copy of the written silica exposure control plan required by section 5204.
(3) Registration shall be renewed annually and updated within [30] days of any change in location, ownership, or competent person.
§ 5204.X — Third-Party Compliance Audit
(1) Each registered fabrication location shall undergo an on-site compliance audit by a third-party auditor within [180] days of registration and at least [annually] thereafter.
(2) The audit shall assess compliance with existing section 5204 requirements, including: prohibited practices (dry cutting, compressed air, dry sweeping, employee rotation); wet methods and filtration of recycled water; respiratory protection, fit testing, and the respirator program; exposure assessment and air monitoring; the written exposure control plan; housekeeping; training and employee comprehension; medical surveillance; recordkeeping; and reporting obligations.
(3) The audit shall include a pre-audit document review, an on-site observation of fabrication tasks in progress, and interviews with workers conducted in the language they prefer.
(4) The auditor shall report findings using a standard audit protocol and scoring tool approved under subsection (i).
§ 5204.X — Designated Competent Persons and Daily Housekeeping Checks
(1) Each fabrication location shall designate at least two competent persons, at least one of whom shall be present during every shift in which fabrication occurs.
(2) A competent person shall inspect dust controls, wet methods, water filtration, respirator use, and housekeeping at the start of each shift and at intervals of no more than [4] hours during fabrication, and shall document each check on a daily log retained for [3] years.
(3) Employers with fewer than [3] employees may request an alternative arrangement under subsection (i). [OPEN QUESTION FOR COMMENT]
§ 5204.X — Corrective Action and Re-Audit
(1) A fabrication location that does not pass shall receive a written corrective action report identifying each deficiency.
(2) The employer shall correct deficiencies within [60] days and submit evidence of correction; a follow-up verification or re-audit shall be conducted within [30] days of submission.
(3) Any condition the auditor determines presents an imminent hazard, including dry cutting or the absence of required respiratory protection, shall be corrected before fabrication continues.
§ 5204.X — Public Registry and Attestation
(1) The name, city, and current attestation status (Passed, Corrective Action in Progress, Expired, or Not Registered) of each fabrication location shall be published on a public registry.
(2) Detailed audit findings shall not be published and shall be treated as confidential business information, except as required by law or to address an imminent hazard.
(3) The registry shall display that an attestation is not a license and does not certify the safety of any product.
§ 5204.X — Supply-Chain Condition: Registered Shops Only
(1) No manufacturer, distributor, or supplier shall sell or deliver a covered material slab to a fabrication location in California unless the location holds a current passing attestation on the public registry, or is within its initial [180]-day audit window.
(2) Sellers shall verify registry status at the time of sale and retain the verification record for [3] years.
(3) This subsection does not apply to sales of finished, installed-ready products that require no further fabrication.
§ 5204.X — Worker Protections: Training, Medical Surveillance, and Workers' Compensation
(1) Silica hazard training required by section 5204 shall be provided in a language and vocabulary each worker understands; completion shall be documented.
(2) Medical surveillance required by section 5204 shall be verified at audit for every worker performing fabrication tasks.
(3) Current workers’ compensation coverage shall be verified at registration and at each audit. A location without coverage shall not receive a passing attestation.
§ 5204.X — Oversight, Independence, and Appeals
(1) The Division shall approve, or recognize an independent body to approve, the audit protocol, scoring tool, auditor training, and auditor roster.
(2) The body that evaluates a location shall be separate from the body that makes the final pass/fail determination; no trade association shall be the final decision-maker on whether an employer may operate.
(3) Participation shall be available to every employer on identical terms, regardless of membership in any association.
(4) An employer may appeal a determination within [30] days to a review panel that did not participate in the original audit.
§ 5204.X — SIX-MONTH FEASIBILITY PILOT AND REPORTING
(1) Before statewide effect, the Division may conduct, or accept results from, a six-month feasibility pilot of registration and audit in California.
(2) A de-identified aggregate report shall be delivered to the Board and the Emergency Silica Advisory Committee at the end of the pilot, including: number of locations registered and audited; pass rates at first audit and after corrective action; most frequent deficiencies; time and cost to correct; air monitoring results; worker training and medical surveillance completion; and workers’ compensation coverage rates.
PART III — JUSTIFICATION AND NEED
The California Department of Public Health has confirmed hundreds of engineered stone silicosis cases among fabrication workers since 2019, including deaths and lung transplants. Section 5204 already prohibits the practices that cause these exposures and requires the controls that prevent them.
What is missing is a reliable way to know which shops are following the law. Cal/OSHA jurisdiction reaches only employers with employees, and inspection capacity cannot reach every shop. A registration and third-party audit system adds verification capacity without adding cost to the State, and gives buyers, suppliers, and workers a way to tell compliant shops from non-compliant ones.
A prohibition on fabrication does not remove existing slabs, natural stone, or new high-silica products from the market, and risks pushing work into the unregistered, uninsured shops where exposures are worst.
PART IV — ECONOMIC AND SMALL-BUSINESS IMPACT
Most California fabrication shops are small businesses. The requirement uses existing law as the audit standard, so a shop already in compliance incurs only registration and audit costs.
Estimated per-location costs: registration [$ amount]; audit [$ amount]; competent person training [$ amount]. Industry grant funding is being raised to cover pilot audits for small shops.
The requirement preserves jobs and businesses that operate lawfully, and avoids the economic loss of a statewide fabrication prohibition for employers, workers, and consumers.
PART V — ENFORCEMENT COORDINATION WITH CAL/OSHA
Registration and audit results support Cal/OSHA’s targeting of inspections to unregistered and non-passing locations. Nothing in this section limits the Division’s authority to inspect, cite, or order any employer to stop work.
Petitioner requests that the Board direct the Division to establish a data-sharing protocol for registry status and aggregate audit findings, consistent with confidentiality requirements.
Comment Offline
Download the Comment Template
Prefer to work offline or comment as a group? Download the Excel template. It lists every part of the petition with space for your position, your comment, suggested wording, and supporting evidence. When you are done, upload it using the form below or email it to [comments@countertoplicensing.org].
- Tab 1 — Instructions
- Tab 2 — About You
- Tab 3 — Section-by-Section Comments
- Tab 4 — Key Questions
- Tab 5 — Evidence and Attachments list
Submit Your Comment Online
Tell Us What You Think.
You can comment on one part or all of them. You do not need to be an ISFA member. Comments in English or Spanish are welcome. Short and honest beats long and polished.
What We're Asking the Public For
- Your position on each part of the petition: support, support with changes, oppose, or no opinion.
- Why: what will work or not work in a real shop, jobsite, or supply chain.
- Suggested wording if you would change the text.
- Evidence: data, studies, costs, air monitoring results, or first-hand experience.
- Who you are — your type of commenter and any financial relationships relevant to your comment, so reviewers can weigh comments fairly.