If you missed our “Dust Exposure – Preventing Occupational Disease” webinar, we provide a recording of the full session at our OHS Reps site.
WorkSafe’s principal construction advisor James Webster joined us to share his experience and observations about how to best control respirable dust, and the common mistakes that employers make. The webinar focused on the exposure in the construction industry, but the hazards and protections discussed were relevant to anyone who may be exposed to hazardous dust in their workplace.
James spoke about how workplaces must apply the hierarchy of controls to manage dust risks that can cause ill health in the workplace, preferably using elimination, substitution, isolation and engineering controls – lower level controls like PPE, which is often the first control that employers reach for, rely heavily on human behaviour in order to be effective.
"If we are grinding, sanding, drilling, cutting, it is really important to control that substance or that dust at the source," James said. Utilising controls such as cutting rooms and believing that workers can generate as much dust as they want because everyone outside that room is isolated from the risk, simply allows the spread of the hazard further than is necessary.
WorkSafe's guidance for employers recommends obtaining a good vacuum cleaner or dust extraction or water suppression unit, so that the hazard is removed as soon as it is generated and no workers are exposed. This is by far the safest method of protecting workers from respirable dust.
Conducting thorough risk assessments of tools and equipment, ensuring suppliers provide adequate information about their safe use, and permitting workers to try them out before buying them, can help ensure that investment in tools is not misguided. “Workers want to be confident that the tools they are given are safe” said James “and suit the way they work”.
James also stressed the importance of providing health and safety information, instruction and training, despite being a low-level administrative control. Information, instruction and training ensures that workers are aware of the dust hazards they are working with, what the health risks are and why they need to use safety controls and should extend beyond the billable task - for example, training for crystalline silica exposure can be as detailed as explaining how to know when a vacuum cleaner is full and how to empty and service the vacuum cleaner safely.
Along with the recording of our "Dust Exposure: Preventing Occupational Disease" webinar, you can download the presentation slides and find additional resource links
Read more: Dust Exposure Preventing Occupational Disease - OHS Reps