Dust in the Workplace

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Letter to Branches




No. 917/11
Ref EX10
Date: 31 October 2011

To: All Branches,

Dear Colleagues,

Dust in the Workplace - TUC Guidance for Health and Safety Representatives - Call For Lower Exposure Limits:

The TUC has published new information and guidance in a report entitled "Dust in the Workplace - TUC Guidance for Health and Safety Representatives" and have called for urgent action to reduce dust levels in the workplace, a hazard which is responsible
for thousands of deaths in the UK every year.

In many workplaces dust is a major problem. However, dust can be more than just a nuisance – it can be a killer. This new guidance is intended to outline the problems that can be caused by dust and gives advice on what employers should do to protect
workers.

In the new guidance which is being sent out to all union safety reps by TUC affiliated Union, the TUC outlines the case for stronger action against dust and shows that the current standards used for the assessment of dust exposure in the workplace are totally
inadequate.

The TUC publication states that there is now clear scientific evidence which suggests that the current UK limits for inhalable and respirable dust should be much lower. It cites research showing that a considerable number of the cases of cancer and lung
diseases caused by dusts come from exposure that is well below the current legal limit.

This view is supported by the Institute of Medicine (IoM), an independent, non-profit organisation that works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision-makers and the public. The IOM has said that 'the current British occupational exposure limits for airborne dust are unsafe and employers should attempt to reduce exposures to help prevent further cases of respiratory disease amongst their workers'.

In launching the guidance a TUC statement said "that because disease and death caused by the various types of dust can take many years to develop, both employers and regulators take them far less seriously than deaths caused by injury, yet they are
just as tragic for both the workers and their families. Each and every one of these thousands of deaths caused by dusts is avoidable. Given the scale of the problem we need an urgent examination of both the current standards and their enforcement."

The TUC has looked at a range of dusts that are often found in the workplace, including silica, coal dust, talc and kaolin, and shown that even at current legal levels, a significant number of workers could be developing significant reductions in their lung function with profound results for future health.



As a result the TUC has been seeking an urgent review of the legal standards as well as greater enforcement of existing ones.
They also want the HSE to raise public awareness regarding the dangers of workplace dust. Such a campaign has also been recommended by the HSE’s own 'WATCH' scientific advisory committee.

The case for tighter controls was put to the HSE at the beginning of September by the TUC, supported by the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), the CWU and other major Unions. Nonetheless, the HSE has refused to either reduce the dust threshold or to institute a campaign of public awareness.

Currently employers may not exceed 4mg of dust per cubic metre of air. However, the TUC and Unions wish to see the limit reduced to 1mg per cubic metre citing that workers are becoming ill as a consequence of the 4mg threshold. The TUC and
Trade Union will continue to press the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to impose tighter restrictions on the presence of airborne dust in the workplace and In the meantime, the TUC wants employers and Unions to agree lower industry-wide
precautionary standards to protect workers of 2.5mg/m³ (inhalable) and 1mg/m³ (respirable) for all general dusts and dusts that do not have a lower Workplace Exposure Limit.

Many types of dust are recognised causes of lung disease; wood dust can cause lung cancer and silica dust can cause a chronic condition known as silicosis making it difficult to breathe. Comparisons can be drawn between the present day and yesteryear when asbestos was a common workplace dust. Had tighter restrictions been imposed when the dangers of asbestos became known, many thousands of workers would have been saved from diseases such as asbestosis, mesothelioma and pleural thickening. The HSE has an opportunity to protect present day workers from similarly disabling diseases and one would hope that it grasps it soon.!

The HSE Guidance is as follows:-
Breathing in dusts can be bad for your health. Recent evidence suggests that uncontrolled dust exposure may be linked to COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. Under the Management
of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, every workplace should be kept clean and it should be possible to keep the surfaces of floors, walls and ceilings clean. Cleaning should be carried out as necessary by an effective method. Workplaces
need to be adequately ventilated. Fresh, clean air should be drawn from a source outside the workplace, uncontaminated. Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations, employers must prevent or adequately control
exposure of employees to any hazardous dusts. When it comes to cleaning up dust, many people brush it, try to blow it away or use a compressed air source. However, these methods will get the dust back up into the air - where it can be breathed in.

Once dust is in the air, it is very hard to control. One of the simplest ways of controlling it is to stop it from getting into the air.

A copy of "Dust in the Workplace - TUC Guidance for Health and Safety Representatives" is attached.

dust.doc

Yours Sincerely


Dave Joyce
CWU National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

[Viewfindergeneral]

There should be plenty of dust in my SPDO as the place has NEVER been dusted or the floor washed in the three years I have been there!

[brothermagrew]

Teebs I'll slap your wrists

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