This case study is a detailed exploration and analysis of a trial ran to monitor respirable crystalline silica (RCS) levels, using an AIR XS Silica Monitor, on behalf of our UK partners Sunbelt Rentals.
The trial monitored the exposure levels to workers and visitors at the Balfour Beatty Bottesford maintenance hangars, which are used daily to store and maintain groundwork equipment. Completing activities to clean such equipment, often covered in aggregate compounds, like concrete, can cause risk of RCS exposure to both workers and visitors in the area.
The challenge for Balfour Beatty, which the AIR XS Silica Monitor and Sunbelt Rentals were tasked with finding a solution to, was to determine the level of risk posed from this RCS exposure and provide specific insights to help introduce preventative strategies for the future of protecting workers and visitors.
“The analysis of collected data from the [AIR XS] unit provided useful information regarding areas where silica exposure was elevated, as well as potential factors contributing to the levels observed through accurate time stamps on the data recordings from the Trolex [AIR XS] unit.” – Nick Moon, Business Manager – Cranes & Piling Plant, Balfour Beatty, Asset & Technology Solutions.
The trail lasted for a 3-week period, with the AIR XS identifying and monitoring exposure to workers within the hangars. See the key findings for yourself.
Learn more about our real-time fixed silica dust monitor, AIR XS, can help improve your safety processes and keep your workers safe from harmful silica dust today.
Silicosis is now the most common occupational lung disease in the world, with silica dust described as ‘the new asbestos’ due to the extreme threat it poses to human health.
Silica dust (respirable crystalline silica (RCS)) is extremely harmful to human health due to its physical and biological properties.
It affects around 50,000,000 workers in a wide variety of industries all around the world and prolonged exposure leads to silicosis and a wide range of other diseases, most of which are untreatable and often lead to long-term disability and/or death.
The potential for harm is even worse than that when you consider that asbestos is one of many different silica compounds and silica is the most proliferate mineral on earth; present in bricks, sand, stone, concrete, glass, cement and many other construction and building materials. 99% of deaths in occupational settings, are caused by the inhalation of dangerous particulates, with the other significant factor in this statistic being the extreme difficulty in monitoring in real-time for these killer particulates
It has never been possible to reliably detect and distinguish silica dust in real time in the real-world settings in which workers are exposed to it – until now.
The white paper looks at the background of silica exposure, the current methodologies employed to monitor it and the new technological advancement that has led to the development of a field-ready product for the first time in history.
Legislated limits of exposure have been tightening up in most major economies as the harm being caused becomes known, but reductions in limits and the implementation of these limits have been hampered by the lack of real-time accurate and reliable monitoring capability.
This technology has the potential to change the way industry, governments, businesses and workers themselves respond to the threat of RCS exposure in the workplace, and as such, it can be the beginning of the end for occupational silicosis. Not only does it improve health and safety outcomes for frontline workers, but it also reduces costs for businesses whilst giving them back control over their working environment.
Perhaps most importantly of all, it gives legislative bodies the tool they need to create and implement workplace exposure limits (WELs) that genuinely protect workers from harm, at a cost industry can bear, ending decades of debate over what the limits should be and how practicable it is for industry to meet them.
Learn more about our real-time fixed silica dust monitor, AIR XS, can help improve your safety processes and keep your workers safe from harmful RCS today.
