Silica Dust Control on Construction sites
Silica Dust musk
Currently there is much in the press about the dangers of Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) dust generated by UK construction sites. The HSE has raised its importance on silica dust over recent years and continually undertakes campaigns to raise its significance in the industry. It is claimed that silica dust is the next big health risk and could rival asbestos for the damage it can do to the human body and the number of lives it can prematurely end. Silica dust leads to 800 deaths a year from lung cancer and can result in long term respiratory diseases such as silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchitis, emphysema and lung cancer.
The Daily Workplace Exposure limit (WEL) for RCS is currently 0.1mg of dust per cubic meter of air. This is equivalent to a pile of dust the size of a thumbnail. If you have ever been on a construction site you will realise how difficult a level this is to maintain. The HSE are being encourages to review silica dust levels when they visit construction sites and they can assess a sites performance against COSHH regulations.
There are many activities on a construction site that creates silica dust and these include drilling, breaking, grinding, blasting, concrete cutting and even sweeping up. Many new products have facilities built in to suppress and reduce the dust released from operations. All hire shops hire dust extraction equipment that can help control dust but none of these actually address the route cause of the issue which is the dust generation in the first instance.
One of the most effective is water suppression, basically using water to stop the dust from becoming airborne. Water is being used
Silica Dust Amount
more and more on construction sites as a control measure. One sector that leads the way in using water as a dust suppressor is the Diamond Drilling and Concrete Cutting industry. The water used not only suppresses the dust generated from the cutting process but also moves the cut substance away from the cutting area as it is washed away in the water flow. This makes diamond drilling and concrete cutting a must have on a construction site if you are planning on cutting or drilling anything concrete.
It is hoped that the publicity generated by this HSE campaign will lead to a reduction in the amount of silica dust generated on UK construction sites and most importantly a reduction in the number of people dying of its effects.
