California Labor Code, the contractor sections

Artificial Stone; Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica

Cutting and finishing artificial stone is Division 5, Part 1, Chapter 2.2, sections 6359.1 to 6359.5: what a high exposure trigger task is, the bar in section 6359.1.5 on using dry methods for one, the annual training attestation a fabrication shop files under section 6359.2, and the silicosis reporting and outreach the State Department of Public Health carries out. No exam section rests on this chapter yet; nothing on the site cites it.

Sections

s. 6359.1
s. 6359.1.5
s. 6359.2
s. 6359.3
s. 6359.4
s. 6359.5

Cited as: Labor Code, declared subset
This chapter: Division 5, Part 1, Chapter 2.2. Artificial Stone; Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica
Sections: 6
Official copy: The chapter on the publisher site

Only part of this instrument is here

The site's copy of this instrument is sections 200-273, 500-558.1, 1171-1207, 1285-1312, 1720-1861, 2750-2810.5, 3070-3098, 3200-3760, 3800, 6300-6413.5. Everything outside those boundaries was not ingested and is not searchable here. Read it on the official copy linked above.

In scope: Division 2, Part 1, Chapter 1 (Payment of Wages, ss. 200 to 273: what wages are, when they are due, final pay on discharge and on quitting, waiting-time penalties, itemized statements, deductions); Division 2, Part 2, Chapter 1 (Working Hours, ss. 500 to 558.1: the workday and workweek, overtime, alternative workweeks, meal and rest periods, and the penalties for missing them); Division 2, Part 4, Chapter 1 (Wages, Hours and Working Conditions, ss. 1171 to 1207: who the wage and hour law covers, the Industrial Welfare Commission and its wage orders, and the minimum wage and its scheduled increases in s. 1182.12); Division 2, Part 4, Chapter 2 (Occupational Privileges and Restrictions, ss. 1285 to 1312: the employment of minors, the permit to employ and to work, the ages and hours a minor may be worked, and the penalties for employing one against those rules); Division 2, Part 7, Chapter 1 (Public Works, ss. 1720 to 1861: what a public work is, prevailing wage, apprentices, certified payroll, DIR registration, working hours on public work, and the workers' compensation certificate a public works contractor signs); Division 3, Chapter 2 (Employer and Employee, ss. 2750 to 2810.5: the contract of employment, the employee-or-independent-contractor test, and an employer's obligations, including the rules on contracting for labor); Division 3, Chapter 4, Articles 1 to 3 (Apprenticeship, ss. 3070 to 3098: the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and its administrator, the apprentice agreement, how a program is approved, the ratio of apprentices to journeypersons, and other on-the-job training); Division 4, Part 1, Chapters 1 to 4 (Workers' Compensation, ss. 3200 to 3760: definitions, who is an employer and who is an employee, the conditions of compensation liability, and the duty to secure payment by insurance or self-insurance); Division 4, Part 1, Chapter 4, Article 4 (Construction Permit, s. 3800: the workers' compensation certificate, or the signed exemption in its place, that an applicant for a building permit files, and what the permit issuer does with it); Division 5, Part 1, Chapters 1 to 3 (Occupational Safety and Health, ss. 6300 to 6413.5: what a safe place of employment is and who enforces it, the right to refuse dangerous work and the bar on retaliation in ss. 6310 to 6312, hazardous substance information and training, the employer's duties from s. 6400 on including the injury and illness prevention program in s. 6401.7, and the report of a serious injury or death in s. 6409.1). Out: the rest of the Labor Code, which runs from s. 50 to s. 11005 across thirteen divisions; and, inside the chapters fetched for this subset, Division 3, Chapter 4, Articles 4 to 6 (preapprenticeship, apprenticeship innovation funding and youth apprenticeship, ss. 3100 to 3122.4) and Division 4, Part 1, Chapter 4 above s. 3760 apart from s. 3800 (insurance rights and privileges, and workers' compensation misrepresentations). Sections 3801 to 3803 are declared by nothing here because the code prints no such sections: Article 4 of that chapter is the single section 3800. Why: the Law and Business examination outline reaches the Labor Code in four of its seven sections, Employment Requirements, Public Works, Insurance and Liens, and Safety, and these are the chapters those four draw on. Everything left out is law, and none of it is authority this corpus carries: a claim that needs it is unverifiable here, not verified against a silence.

Reproduced from the official code text. The official version is the one linked above. Nothing has been added to the text, and nothing inside this chapter has been left out.

Section 6359.1§Sections

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Artificial stone” means any reconstituted, artificial, synthetic, composite, engineered, or manufactured stone product. It is commonly made by combining natural stone or other crystalline silica-containing materials with adhesives, polymers, epoxies, resins, or other binding materials to form a slab. Fired ceramic and porcelain tiles and panels are not artificial stone.

(b) “Department” means the Department of Industrial Relations.

(d) “Division” means the Division of Occupational Safety & Health.

(e) “Dry methods” means the undertaking of high-exposure trigger tasks without the use of wet methods that effectively suppress dust.

(f) (1) “Fabrication shop” means a person, entity, business, or location where high-exposure trigger tasks are undertaken.

(2) “Fabrication shop” does not include quarries, concrete and cement manufacturing facilities, or fired ceramic or fired porcelain tiles or panels manufacturing facilities that do not manufacture, fabricate, or finish artificial stone products.

(g) “High-exposure trigger task” means machining, crushing, cutting, drilling, abrading, abrasive blasting, grinding, chiseling, carving, gouging, polishing, buffing, fracturing, intentional breaking, or intentional chipping of artificial stone that contains more than 0.1 percent by weight crystalline silica, or other silica containing products, including natural stone, that contain more than 10 percent by weight crystalline silica. High-exposure trigger tasks also include clean up, disturbing, or handling of wastes, dusts, residues, debris, or other materials created during the above-listed tasks. High-exposure trigger tasks do not include tasks other than the fabrication of countertops, backsplashes, walls, flooring, waterfall countertop edges, and other products from slabs or panels.

(h) “Respirable crystalline silica” means quartz, cristobalite, or tridymite contained in airborne particles that are determined to be respirable by a sampling device designed to meet the characteristics for respirable-particle-size-selective samplers specified in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 7708:1995 Air Quality — Particle Size Fraction Definitions for Health-Related Sampling.

(i) “Wet methods” means effectively suppressing dust by one of the methods listed below, such that exposures do not exceed the action level at any time. Regardless of the method used, water shall cover the entire surface of the work object where a tool, equipment, or machine contacts the work object.

(1) Applying a constant, continuous, and appropriate volume of running water directly onto the surface of the work object. When water flow is integrated with a tool, machine, or equipment, water flow rates shall equal or exceed manufacturer recommendations and specifications to ensure effective dust suppression. Any water that is recycled must be filtered to remove silica prior to reuse.

(2) Submersing the work object underwater.

(3) Water jet cutting or the use of high-pressure water to cut material.

(Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 734, Sec. 3. (SB 20) Effective January 1, 2026.)

Section 6359.1.5§Sections

(a) A person or entity engaged in high-exposure trigger tasks shall not use dry methods when engaging in any high-exposure trigger tasks.

(b) A person or entity engaged in high-exposure trigger tasks shall use effective wet methods when engaging in any high-exposure trigger tasks.

(c) A violation of this section shall be grounds for an immediate order by the division prohibiting continued work and shall be grounds for penalties as set forth in Division 5 and Chapters 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, 4, and 7 of Division 1 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.

(d) The division shall enforce this section by issuing a citation alleging a violation of this section and a notice of civil penalty in a manner consistent with Section 6317. Any person who receives a citation and penalty may appeal the citation and penalty to the appeals board in a manner consistent with Section 6319.

(Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 734, Sec. 3. (SB 20) Effective January 1, 2026.)

Section 6359.2§Sections

(a) The owner or operator of a fabrication shop, or any individual who will employ another individual to perform high-exposure trigger tasks in a fabrication shop, shall do both of the following:

(1) Ensure that any employee who performs high-exposure trigger tasks receives training as required pursuant to Section 5204 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.

(2) (A) Beginning on July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, provide to the division through electronic submission a written attestation that each employee who performs high-exposure trigger tasks has received training as required pursuant to Section 5204 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.

(B) It shall be unlawful for any person to make a false statement, representation, or certification on the written attestation described in subparagraph (A).

(b) The division shall enforce this section by issuing a citation alleging a violation of this section and a notice of a civil penalty in a manner that is consistent with Section 6317. Any person who receives a citation and penalty may appeal the citation and penalty to the appeals board in a manner consistent with Section 6319.

(Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 734, Sec. 3. (SB 20) Effective January 1, 2026.)

Section 6359.3§Sections

This part, or any related health and safety standard, does not prevent or limit an employer, contractor, or fabrication shop from adopting stricter safety standards.

(Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 734, Sec. 3. (SB 20) Effective January 1, 2026.)

Section 6359.4§Sections

(a) The State Department of Public Health shall consider a report of silicosis related to occupational exposure to artificial stone as a serious illness and shall report that case to the division within three business days of receiving the report. The report shall include, if available, the name and contact information for the worker with silicosis and the name and address of their workplace or workplaces.

(b) If the division receives a report of silicosis related to artificial stone from the State Department of Public Health, the report shall constitute a complaint from a government agency representative charging a serious violation and shall subject the employer or place of employment to the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 6309 for the division to initiate an investigation within three business days.

(c) The division shall notify the State Department of Public Health of any cases of silicosis related to artificial stone identified through enforcement activities within five business days of case identification. The notification shall include, if available, the name and contact information for the worker with silicosis and the name and address of their workplace or workplaces. The division shall also share results of silica exposure assessments performed as part of its enforcement activities and the names and addresses of fabrication shops where the assessments were conducted and associated silica sampling data, including information about the composition of the slabs that were being fabricated during sampling. Silica exposure assessment results shall be shared by the division with the State Department of Public Health within 30 days of receipt of the results by the division.

(d) Information shared pursuant to this section regarding individual cases of silicosis, including personal information contained in assessment results, is confidential, shall be exempt from disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code), and shall be used by the receiving party only for surveillance, investigation, or case management. The State Department of Public Health may share confidential information with the appropriate local health officer only for the purposes of surveillance, investigation, or case management.

(e) The State Department of Public Health may share the deidentified confidential information to entities conducting scientific research, if the request for information is approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS) for the California Health and Human Services Agency, the requesting entity provides documentation to the department that demonstrates, to the department’s satisfaction, that the entity has established the procedures and ability to maintain the confidentiality of the information, and the requesting entity has agreed, in writing, to maintain the confidentiality of the information.

(Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 734, Sec. 3. (SB 20) Effective January 1, 2026.)

Section 6359.5§Sections

The State Department of Public Health shall conduct all of the following activities to address silicosis risk exposure in fabrication shops:

(a) Identify businesses that conduct high-exposure trigger activities.

(b) Provide outreach and education about silicosis prevention and diagnosis to workers, employers, and healthcare providers.

(c) Provide technical assistance to local health jurisdictions engaged in silicosis surveillance and prevention activities.

(Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 734, Sec. 3. (SB 20) Effective January 1, 2026.)