What Risks Come with Poor Dust Management?

Companies whose employees work with hazardous substances can face many complications without good dust extraction systems. Not only do they run the risk of workers suffering industrial diseases, but they may also be breaking health and safety regulations.

The various industries have specific legal requirements and laws regarding dust levels and the need for proper dust extraction, such as COSHH regulations in the UK. Workplace watchdog the Health and Safety Executive is responsible for ensuring employers adhere to the latest guidelines.

How does dust exposure affect employee health?

With serious and life threatening consequences for employees who don’t have the appropriate protection; continued exposure to dust, especially silica and wood dust, can lead to respiratory diseases, cancer and chronic conditions such as silicosis and COPD.

Research by the HSE suggests exposure to silica may be causing the deaths of more than 500 former construction workers in the UK each year, while around 4,000 people lose their lives annually to employment linked COPD. One of the highest at risk groups are construction workers due to the dusts they can breathe in on a daily basis.

Many tasks in construction create a high volume of hazardous dust including the use of high-energy tools such as grinders, cut-off saws and grit blasters. Dry sweeping can make more dust than wet brushing or vacuuming, and the more enclosed the work area, the quicker the dust will accumulate.

Financial implications

Having an inadequate dust extraction system can have serious financial consequences for your business, as it can lead to fines, lawsuits, compensation claims, higher insurance premiums, increased absenteeism and greater employee turnover, all of which can greatly affect profitability.

There have been some high profile cases in the news that serve as a warning to companies who may be using inadequate dust extraction: in April 2024, Target Furniture Ltd, of Kingsthorpe, Northampton, was fined £4,700 and ordered to pay £4,869 costs by Leicester Magistrates after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 7(1) of COSHH 2002.

HSE inspectors had visited the company’s workshop on 26th May 2022 and found unsafe machinery and wood dust at the site, including around most of the woodworking machines and in the sawmill, resulting in the issuing of Prohibition Notices. The inspectors concluded that employees were at risk of suffering potentially harmful consequences.

In addition, employees were dry sweeping wood dust rather than using a vacuum cleaner, causing further exposure to potentially harmful dust. The subsequent investigation ruled that the company had failed to adequately prevent and control exposure to wood dust.

Impact on employee morale

Poor dust extraction does far more than impact physical health, as workers’ concerns about their own safety and wellbeing can also affect morale and staff retention. When occupational health risks are perceived, job satisfaction decreases accordingly: promoting a positive workplace safety culture can help reduce the negative impact of jobs with a greater risk to health.

According to research published by the National Library of Medicine, job satisfaction is directly linked to our view of occupational health risks, including working conditions. Studies carried out in various high risk industries including construction, conclude controlling potential risks is important in all workplaces, but none more so than hazardous industries, such as those with significant dust exposure.

Around one-fifth of employees worry about their own safety at least once a week, citing negative experiences as spurring their decision to resign, according to a UK study by Willis Towers Watson. The poll revealed employees who don’t feel safe at work will feel less satisfied about every aspect of their job and are much more likely to leave than those who haven’t experienced any negative feelings.

Around 25% of adults said they wouldn’t work for a company where there were safety concerns, with 22% admitting they had left a job in the past for this reason.

How to remove dust from air

Responsible employers use workshop dust extraction systems to minimise the risks in environments where dust and fumes can be a health issue.

The most effective include AirBench Downdraught Benches, a self-contained workbench with built-in dust and fume extractor systems that enable employees to simply work on the surface, while dust or fumes are drawn through into internal filters and clean air is returned to the room.

Our VertEx Cross-Draught Systems and Booths are ideal to remove hazardous dusts, such as wood, from the workplace. The cross-draught systems are modular walls of extraction that draw in dust or fumes through perforated front panels into internal filters, which are chosen for the specific application. They remove contaminants from the workspace and return filtered air to the environment.

Our modular VertEx Booth system enables us to create walk-in dust and fume extraction booths large enough for every application, with different filter sets enabling the them to be configured in many ways, such as a sanding booth for wood dusts, a fume extraction booth with carbon filtration, or a grinding booth for metal work.

AirBench Air Cleaning Systems, based on our proven fan and filter technology, solve atmospheric dust issues resulting from dust escapes from nearby processes into the workspace. The simple ME units gently clean and recirculate workshop air by running continuously to improve the workspace environment.

Designed for factory environments, such as welding facilities, our larger AT systems are intended for use in tandem with other existing extraction systems to remove dust or fumes from the air. Capable of cleaning high volumes of air continually, they remove particles from the filters through integrated pulse-clean systems.

Air cleaner products and extraction systems are built to order at our factory, where short lead times are possible due to our products being assembled from stock components.

Companies can integrate our dust extraction systems into their existing health and safety protocols as part of a broader strategy that includes regular maintenance, employee training and consistent monitoring of workplace air quality.