The scale of the dust problem in outdoor industrial environments

Outdoor industrial environments include industries such as construction and quarrying and are at high risk of excess hazardous dust exposure. This type of dust is referred to as construction dust. Construction dust is often a cause of serious ill health for many workers, causing diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Occupational Asthma and Silicosis. 

According to the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the term construction dust “is a general term used to describe different dusts that you may find on a construction site” and is also produced through similar workplace processes. These different dusts include silica dust, created when working on materials such as concrete or stone, wood dust which is created when working on materials like softwood, hardwood, or wood-based products and ‘general dust’ created when working on materials like limestone or marble. 

The main issue relating to construction dust is often the failure to effectively eliminate or minimise workers’ exposure to it, in and surrounding any outdoor industrial environment, as well as the methods taken to do this. 

A broad range of workplace processes taking place in construction and quarrying essential to the job, like crushing, cutting, and grinding cause general dust to become airborne leading to exposure for workers. Similarly, when grinding into bricks, extraction of rock and similar processes using silica containing materials creates respirable crystalline silica (RCS) which, when inhaled, becomes incredibly harmful to the lungs.  

Often, the scale of the hazard depends on varying factors, including time, location, and methods of working. If people are working on tasks for longer, in a more enclosed space or are not using effective control methods for the dust, e.g. dry sweeping the dust, they are more likely to increase their risk of dust exposure.  

In many cases, it’s difficult to completely eliminate or substitute materials causing excess dust, due to the materials being used for the job. Therefore, workplaces may work in line with the Hierarchy of Controls to introduce engineering controls to isolate and limit workers from exposure to the hazard by altering the way the work. 

Construction dust is a major issue for multiple countries. Worldwide, there are over 200 million people employed in both construction and quarrying industries, meaning there’s a high risk of all outdoor industry workers being exposed to occupational lung diseases. For example, in the UK, it’s estimated that between 3,000 – 4,000 construction workers per year suffer from a work-related breathing or lung issues.  

Construction dust can affect different areas of an outdoor site. When completing processes such as grinding and cutting, dust may be closer to the breathing zone for individuals, heightening the chance of inhalation of hazardous particles. In contrast, processes like crushing and extraction may produce a larger amount of dust, making it airborne and spreading further affecting an entire site. 

Because these mentioned workplace processes take place outdoor, this finite dust can spread across entire sites and even further afield. The Environmental Protection Agency estimate that particle pollution generated in one area of a workplace can travel hundreds or thousands of miles. 

For all industry workers across an entire site, construction dust is a serious concern. Whilst workers directly involved in construction or quarrying processes are most at risk, any workers in nearby office cabins, the local communities or members of the public nearby can also be at risk, due to the nature of finite dust becoming airborne and spreading further afield.  

In 2019, Joanna McNeil was employed by an Australian quarrying and construction materials company, where her office was located in a portable cabin. Despite being located around 100 metres away from the quarry, Joanna developed silicosis due to exposure to hazardous silica dust at the age of just 36.

Almost anyone located on and nearby a construction or quarrying site can be severely affected by exposure to hazardous dust, whether directly involved in the workplace processes or simply by just being located nearby the worksite.