As part of its Business Plan, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out more than 1,000 inspections between May and July, focusing on what businesses and workers were doing to prevent or adequately control the risks from construction dust.
The inspections by Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety revealed examples of good practice on sites and within companies. These included;
the use of motorised water suppression alongside face fit tested FFP3 respiratory protective equipment (RPE) to reduce exposure to silicosis and lung cancer causing respirable crystalline silica (RCS);
air fed hoods (or powered air respirators) being used when using high powered cutting saws during carpentry to prevent exposure to asthma causing wood dust;
and the inclusion of details of HSE’s campaign within company health, safety & environmental newsletters to raise awareness of the effects of dust exposure and the importance of effective control measures to improve the long-term health of construction workers.
However, HSE’s inspectors also found many examples of poor practice, including;
no on-tool extraction in place on high powered cutting saws that generate silica and wood dust, along with poorly maintained extraction equipment such as hoses and units making it ineffective;
suitable RPE not being made available on site for workers to use or making it available but not ensuring it is used;
and the health of workers not being considered when carrying out the simplest of tasks such as sweeping up indoors, which requires damping down to control the dust generated and the provision of suitable face-fit tested RPE.
A key area of concern for the regulator is that inspectors are still finding sites where;
the hierarchy of controls are simply not considered at all;
where no effective design or planning has taken place to eliminate risks from dust, such as considering the use of pre-cut materials;
nothing being in place to minimise the risks by use of suitable control measures, such as water suppression and on-tool extraction and the use of RPE.
The law requires employers to prevent the ill health of their workers as far as reasonably practicable, which includes prevention or adequate control of workers’ exposure to construction dust.
Ideally, elimination of the risk of exposure to dust for workers should be achieved by good design and planning. Where this is not possible, measures should be put in place to control dust and provide workers with appropriately fitted RPE. Employees should also play their part by taking responsibility for wearing and maintaining RPE provided.
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