12/12/2024: Designing for Safety: Protecting Worker Health from the Hazards of Engineered Stone

Photo of countertop samples with the text Designing for Safety: Protecting Worker Health from the Hazards of Engineered Stone

Architects and designers play a vital role in improving worker health and safety through the selection of safer materials. Engineered stone poses a major health hazard to workers, particularly through exposure to respirable crystalline silica. In this session, you will gain a foundational understanding of the health risks linked to engineered stone and explore a range of safer building alternatives, evaluating their advantages and disadvantages. You will also learn about regulatory measures underway in California and federally, and the prohibition of engineered stone in Australia. By the end of the session, you’ll be equipped to integrate the AIA Materials Pledge into your practice, enabling you to make informed, sustainable material choices that prioritize worker health and safety.

This course is introductory, there are no prerequsites.

Learning Objectives:

At the completion of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Discuss the role of architects and interior designers in protecting the health and safety of workers
Describe the health effects (i.e., silicosis) of engineered stone production and installation
Identify regulatory interventions aimed to protect workers including the Emergency Temporary Standard on Respirable Crystalline Silica in California; the National Emphasis Program for Respirable Crystalline Silica in the U.S., and the prohibition on the use of engineered stone in Australia
Analyze engineered stone alternatives to eliminate the use of hazardous substances, and provide positive impacts for workers
Incorporate the AIA Materials Pledge into your design and building practice to promote the health, safety, and welfare of workers

Audience

This educational activity is intended for design professionals including interior designers and architects.

Accreditation:

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health designates this activity for a maximum of 1.5 Contact Hours. Participants should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Interior Design Continuing Education Council (IDCEC)

This CEU is registered with the Interior Design Continuing Education Council (IDCEC) for continuing education credits. This credit will be accepted by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), International Interior Designers Association (IIDA) and Interior Designers of Canada (IDC).

This program is registered for 1.5 CEU value. The IDCEC class-code is: CC-122403-1000.

AIA CES Provider statement

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health is a registered provider of AIA-approved continuing education under Provider Number 10080301. All registered AIA CES Providers must comply with the AIA Standards for Continuing Education Programs. Any questions or concerns about this provider or this learning program may be sent to AIA CES (cessupport@aia.org or (800) AIA 3837, Option 3).

This learning program is registered with AIA CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product.

AIA continuing education credit has been reviewed and approved by AIA CES. Learners must complete the entire learning program to receive continuing education credit. AIA continuing education Learning Units earned upon completion of this course will be reported to AIA CES for AIA members. Certificates of Completion for both AIA members and non-AIA members are available upon request.

AIA CES approved for 1.5 LU|HSWs.

AIA Course Expiration: 10/28/2027.

Course Format

This course is a live, online offering.

Registration Fees

Course Registration: FREE

Accessibility

If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) to fully participate in this course, please contact Will Bellamy at (510) 642-8365 or wbellamy@berkeley.edu.

Sponsors

This event is produced in partnership with the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at UC Berkeley, the New York New Jersey Education and Research Center, and Southern California NIOSH Education and Research Center.

New York-New Jersey Education and Research Center (NYNJERC)

Southern California Education and Research Center

Lona Rerick, LEED Fellow, WELL AP, LFA

Architect & Sustainable Materials Leader

ZGF Architects

Lona Rerick is an Architect and Sustainable Materials Leader at ZGF Architects. Lona Rerick leads ZGF Architects' efforts to define, select. and specify holistically responsible materials that support all five impact areas of the Materials Pledge: Human Health, Climate Health, Ecosystem Health, and Social Health + Equity in a Circular Economy. Lona guides clients, design teams and contractors through the intricacies of system materials selection, product research, and specifications writing. She is also a tireless volunteer advocating and collaborating for market transformation leading to better materials for all.

Currently, Lona serves as a current member of the AIA Materials Pledge Working Group and as 2018 AIA MKWG chair who led creation of the Materials Pledge and; as Chair of the mindful MATERIALS Board; as a member of the ILFI Materials Health TAG; on the Health Product Declaration Collaborative’s Board; and as a founding co-Chair of the Portland Materials Transparency Collaborative.

Kimberly Mickelburough

Director

Chaulk Studio Pty Ltd

Kimberly Mickelburough is Director of Chaulk Studio Pty Ltd (full services architectural practice). She is an architect and educational building specialist with expertise in executive leadership, architectural design, project management, sustainability, and design-thinking. Chaulk Studio is an award-winning architectural practice renowned for delivering high quality, innovative and sustainable architectural projects that have a positive social impact. They believe in solutions that are holistically considered and we specialise in the education, workplace, residential, and hospitality sectors.

Kristin Cummings, MD, MPH

Chief of the Occupational Health Branch

California Department of Public Health

Kristin Cummings, MD, MPH is Chief of the Occupational Health Branch of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Prior to joining CDPH, she served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Medical Officer, and Branch Chief in the Respiratory Health Division of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Occupational Medicine and is a member of the Standing Committee on Personal Protective Equipment for Workplace Safety and Health of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Her research interests include inhalational exposures and respiratory health of workers, with a particular emphasis on occupational health disparities.

Michael Wilson, PhD, MPH

Senior Industrial Hygienist

California OSHA

Since serving as a firefighter/paramedic and president of Local 1270 of the International Association of Firefighters in the 1990s, Dr. Wilson has dedicated his professional career to protecting the safety and health of workers. To advance his knowledge and impact, Dr. Wilson returned to graduate school at UC Berkeley to earn an MPH and PhD in the School of Public Health, studying occupational health and industrial hygiene.

While serving as director of the Labor Occupational Health Program at UC Berkeley, Dr. Wilson built a coalition of the United Steelworkers and environmental justice groups in the Bay Area, following the disastrous refinery fire at the Richmond, Chevron refinery. His subsequent report to the Governor’s Office led to his appointment as chief scientist for the Department of Industrial Relations, a post from which he drafted and negotiated the state’s groundbreaking 2017 Process Safety Management standard for the state’s petroleum refineries, section 5189.1 of the California Code of Regulations.

Since returning to Cal/OSHA in 2020, Dr. Wilson has served as the senior safety engineer for statewide rulemaking in the areas of firefighter respiratory protection during wildland and urban-interface operations; refinery process safety; silicosis prevention in engineered stone and general industry; permissible exposure limits for carcinogens; and first aid standards for general industry and construction workplaces.