Occupational Dust and Dust Fraction Monitoring
Dust is generated by a wide range of manufacturing, domestic and industrial activities.
Ambient dust in the workplace from processes carried out can often times be excessively high. Employees operating in such areas can experience health effects such as lung capacity deterioration and other such ailments. For this reason dust concentrations should be monitored to ensure either they are in compliance with maximum dust concentrations recommended by the HSA, or that in areas of high dust concentrations personnel face masks are supplied to the employees.
Inhalable dust is taken to mean any solid particle which by its small size can be carried in airflow or remains airborne. It includes respirable dust. Respirable dust is taken to be the solid particles of less than 8.5 microns in size. Dust of this size is normally invisible to the human eye. Respirable dust can get deep into the lung and does not get ejected by the normal means of breathing out, coughing or travelling out in the mucus. It is because of this ability to stay in the body it is considered dangerous.
EURO environmental services conduct occupational dust and dust fraction monitoring according to HSE MDHS 14/3 (General methods for sampling and gravimetric analysis of respirable and Inhalable dust). EURO environmental services have experience in undertaking occupational dust monitoring in a range of work environments providing clients with information to assess the health risks of dust in the workplace.
Services offered include:
- Personal sampling – attachment of sampler to the breathing zone of personnel working in the dust prone area
- Background sampling – fixed point sampling used to determine the levels of dust in the workplace
Serving Industry, Local Authorities, Business and Land Development Projects in the UK and Ireland
