Elimination is the complete removal of the hazard in the workplace. For this it requires eliminating the risks completely at the source. This can be done by completely changing the process during work, completely removing the hazardous materials being used, or completely removing certain machinery in the workplace. 

Substitution is arguably a more suitable alternative than elimination. Although elimination is the preferred, substituting certain processes, materials, or machinery for safer alternative may be a more realistic option, such as choosing low dust alternative materials, or less powerful machinery which generates less gas. 

In scenarios where changing the entire workplace process isn’t possible, introducing engineering control to combat and control the hazard being generated is a suitable option. Controls such as Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV), water suppression and damping methods, and enclosures and cabins ensures dust doesn’t become airborne.  

Administration controls ensures that workers remain away from direct contact with airborne dust in scenarios where dust cannot be eliminated, substituted or controlled. Examples like this include regular maintenance of all workplace environments, limiting worker exposure to gas generating processes and effective workplace clothing. 

Personal Protective Equipment is the last resort for controlling dust in the workplace, yet it can be effective if deployed correctly. With multiple options of PPE available, it’s important that PPE is correctly selected depending on the job which is being undertaken. Comfort, fit testing, individual usage and training are all essential for selecting the correct PPE.

• Respirable Crystalline Silica is one of the most hazardous types of dust workers can be exposed to. RCS forms many types of natural materials such as stone, sand and rock, and is generated when these materials are cut, ground or made fine through various different workplace processes. 

• Common industries exposed to RCS: Construction, mining + stone working 

• Asbestos dust is generated through the damaging of asbestos-containing materials such as cements, tiles and other products in manufacturing environments. When airborne, asbestos dust is easily inhaled due to its small size and scars deep into the lungs, causing lung diseases. 

• Common industries exposed to asbestos dust: Construction, demolition + manufacturing

• Substances and ingredients which are used to make pharmaceutical products can often create high levels of hazardous dust during processes such as milling, pressing, blending and grinding. API dusts can include organic compounds, metal powders and combustible properties. 

• Common industries exposed to API: Chemical Manufacturing + Pharmaceutical 

• Coal dust is generated in various underground environments when coal is being mined for, in rocks and other natural structures and materials. Cutting, grinding and blasting rocks makes coal dust easily inhalable, especially in environments with limited ventilation or space, such as underground. 

• Common industries exposed to coal dust: Mining, quarrying, gold (open-pit) mining + tunnelling 

• Construction dust can be generated from any kind of construction activity, whether cutting, drilling, mixing materials, building infrastructure, or other processes. Materials like stone, cement, sand and brick generate fine, respirable materials which create high levels of construction dust. 

• Common industries exposed to construction dust: Construction + quarrying 

• Grain dust is created when using barley, wheat and other natural materials from farming and harvesting. These processes in agriculture, as well as the manufacturing of grains in food production lead to grain dust exposure, generated from handling, transferring, milling and mixing grain. 

• Common industries exposed to grain dust: Agriculture + food production

• Flour dust is generated through mixing, cutting and handling flour, whether from initial farming and harvesting of crops, to processing it in food production. Exposure to flour dust can be dangerous, as its easily inhaled due to its small size and common use and worker exposure in food processing

• Common industries exposed to flour dust: Agriculture + food production 

• Textile dust is generated during apparel and clothing manufacturing due to processes such as drawing, carding, spinning, handling materials, and others, particularly due to the properties of wool, cotton and fibres. Occupational asthma and respiratory irritation is common for workers exposed to textile dust.  

• Common industries exposed to textile dust: Textile + apparel manufacturing 

• Fine metal particles generated through welding can lead to various occupational illnesses. Welding at high temperatures, above certain materials boiling point generates high levels of metal dust, particles and fumes which need to be effectively controlled during welding processes. 

• Common industries exposed to welding dust: Manufacturing + welding 

• Sawing, cutting and drilling into wood products often generates high levels of dust. This can be either hardwood dust, generated from oak or beech trees, or softwood dust, such as pine or fir trees. Exposure to hardwood dust can cause serious cancers, whilst softwood dust can cause respiratory irritation. 

• Common industries exposed to wood dust: Construction, forestry + woodwork 

By segregating processes which produce large volumes of dust, you can control the amount of dust your workers are exposed to. In some cases, it may even be possible to make the process entirely automated, meaning no workers are exposed to dust. Introducing a remote operation, e.g. a separate room or section within a facility meaning workers completing the dusty process never directly come into contact with the excess dust created. This process means that if workers have to complete a task which is likely to create excess hazardous dust, they spend as little, or if possible, no time exposed to the dust. 

In cases where segregation isn’t possible, extraction is an option to control excess dust. Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) systems can be built into machines or processes which create excess dust. LEV and extraction systems collect contaminants like dust and filter out the contaminants before they’re released into the air. This process can be used for multiple processes within the workplace such as storage bins, grinding mills, conveyors, mixing machines and many more, ensuring that when excess dust is created it does not come into direct contact with workers during these processes. 

Using less-toxic materials, where applicable, is another suitable method for controlling dust exposure in your workplace. For example, the use of pellets rather than powders, or replacing sand with garnet as abrasive blasting agent can allow workers to produce a similar end product during workplace processes whilst minimising risk of dust exposure. By substituting out materials for less toxic alternatives, workers can continue their processes throughout the day, at less, or almost no risk to their respiratory health.

The use of wet methods can provide almost no airborne dust during workplace methods. Damping down materials such as stone and concrete, which are used for many workplace processes and usually create high levels of dust when disturbed, can mean potential airborne dust is limited due to the particles binding together when wet. Similarly, methods of cleaning such as dry sweeping dust or compressed air lines can spread and disturb hazardous dust across the workplace, making it airborne and posing a threat to workers health, controlling excess dust and reduce the risk to workers. 

Excess dust is a consist problem in workplaces where highly dusty processes occur, especially if it is not possible to completely eliminate the risk of dust. By maintaining cleanliness, encouraging workers to work with care and instructing them how to control the dust produced in their work processes by following the methods mentioned, control of dust can become a regular process in the workplace. 

Each year thousands of construction workers contract or die from respiratory diseases from exposure to dust, including silica dust. This can be due to direct exposure on site or simply by just working nearby the construction site, e.g. in a nearby office or cabin.  

Obviously, activities such as drilling, cutting and building generates dust, as raw materials such as brick and stone are disturbed and ground down, making fine dust become airborne, but dust also becomes a risk to workers nearby in other ways. 

Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) is less than 10µm in size, meaning that it’s not only easily inhalable, but is also fine and small enough to travel far distances effecting individuals not directly located near construction activities. 

Real-time silica monitoring with AIR XS provides transportable monitoring of respirable silica dust, with a measurement capacity of 1µm to 10µm to monitor across entire construction sites, in nearby offices and further a-field to protect everyone. 

With the ability to monitor in real-time, workers can gauge which activities are causing certain RCS levels at specific times in the day, e.g. if cutting stone causes higher levels of RCS, to then introduce effective control measures to limit RCS generation. 

In the UK alone, there are approximately 2.6 million manufacturing workers, working with various different materials. Approximately 20% of workers in the UK are affected by dust from stone, cement, brick or concrete across workplace processes. 

Manufacturing processes can involve anything from welding and joinery to grinding, cutting and polishing. It can entail all different types of raw materials such as metals and plastics, as well as clay, glass and sand which can all generate dangerous RCS. 

In manufacturing as a whole, which uses various different raw materials and often has multiple processes occurring at once, it’s important to be able to distinguish RCS from other dusts, in total dust loads and mixes, in real-time, both accurately and reliably. 

Real-time silica monitoring with AIR XS provides detailed information by examining multiple detection parameters for RCS in real time, including size, symmetry, and a series of optical markers unique to RCS particles, in total dust loads. 

An estimated 49.5 million miners worldwide are exposed to high concentrations of RCS during their work. Due to specific work processes, enclosed spaces and limited air quality, exposure to silica dust can have a big impact on mining and its workers. 

Processes such as drilling and blasting of materials, even more so during demolition of entire structures, generates high levels of dust, such as silica, due to brittle underground materials such as sand and rock being regularly disturbed. 

As well as this, due to the lack of ventilation and air quality underground, as well as the enclosed spaces which workers find themselves in, RCS can become easily inhaled, sometimes causing life-threatening respirable diseases. 

Real-time silica monitoring with AIR XS offers workers the ability to know exactly how much silica dust they’re exposed to, live and in real-time, no matter the environment they’re in, even including in noisy, high-volume workspaces with limited visibility. 

Real-time readings on device as well as live and historical data through BreatheXS software allows workplaces to subsequently introduce the correct and effective control measures to prevent further overexposure. 

Exposure to silica dust in quarries is not uncommon. Highly dusty processes, with heavy-duty machinery and large-scale vehicles not only generate dust from materials but also disturb settled dust on the ground, increasing the risk.  

Crushing, drilling and blasting of raw materials such as sand and stone can generate high levels of RCS. This dust in incredibly fine and invisible to the human eye, making it easily inhalable and airborne. 

With the wide-open spaces of quarrying, and various different activities and processes being undertaken, this fine dust can easily spread from one area to another, increasing the risk of exposure to it and subsequent associated health risks. 

Real-time silica monitoring with AIR XS ensures that all RCS is accurately monitored for, particularly of vast open areas of the quarry, to account for all workers who may be exposed to hazardous silica dust. 

Thanks to the transportable capabilities of AIR XS, multiple areas, all activities and processes in a quarrying environment can be regularly monitored, allowing for effective control measures to be introduced for excess silica dust. 

Silica is a naturally occurring mineral found in many types of rocks and stones. When working in stonemasonry, natural minerals are regularly cut into, generating high levels of RCS, exposing workers to potential lung and respirable illnesses. 

Shaping, cutting and crafting natural and engineered stone involves chiselling, grinding and polishing of stone, which can contain up to 90% silica content. Once disturbed it often becomes airborne further increasing the risk of illness. 

Without effective and regular control measures, suitable for the material on the job, such as wet methods and dust extraction workers may put themselves and other workers at risk. Real-time silica monitoring can help to support this. 

Real-time silica monitoring with AIR XS provides a valuable insight to the entire workplace, which can be used for introducing the correct control measures to ensure that workers aren’t overexposed to high silica content. 

As part of our ongoing testing programme in real-world scenarios, we recently visited a local company manufacturing specialist refractory materials.

During the visit, Joe Morais, our in-house Occupational Hygienist, conducted personal exposure monitoring using traditional techniques as stipulated in MDHS 101/2 – Crystalline silica in respirable airborne dust, alongside our AirX range of real-time monitoring instrumentation. 

Among other things, personal sampling was conducted on one of the Mill Operators as he filled bags with product containing crystalline silica.

2 x AIR XS units were positioned either side of the operator’s work area, and the resultant respirable crystalline silica levels were recorded in real time. 

In line with standard Occupational Hygiene practice, the personal samplers were retrieved from the operatives, processed, and submitted to an external accredited laboratory for analysis of both respirable dust and respirable crystalline silica exposure concentrations. 

The analytical results indicated that the operative was exposed to 0.101 mg/m³ respirable crystalline silica during bagging activities. At the same time, the AIR XS units returned average respirable crystalline silica results of 0.118 mg/m³ and 0.079 mg/m³ respectively.

The data provided valuable insights into the operative’s behaviours based on exposure profiles during the assessment period. 

This comparative result not only demonstrates how AIR XS performs in line with traditional monitoring techniques but also highlights its importance in interpreting operative behaviours, the impact of resting periods, and the design of control measures.