The VERY REAL dangers of dust in the workplace.

We don’t say this lightly – dust kills!

It is a silent killer that has serious risks for your health years down the line.

Construction workers die every week from lung disease caused by exposure to dust while many more will suffer from severe chronic long-term lung conditions.

Don’t make the same mistake as those who have worked unprotected and not realised the health risks of exposure to dust.

At HF, safety is always our priority. Individually and collectively, we are all responsible. It is one of our four guiding values as a company and we want to make sure that not just our team but all contractors working in an environment with dust are aware of the risks and know what to do to keep safe and be harm free.

With Electricians, Gas Engineers, Plumbers, Fire & Security Installers, Control Designers and Communication Riggers all working under the HF brand, our team are constantly working on construction sites where dust is an issue and we want to protect them from all forms of health and safety risks. And it is not just a concern on our part. From May this year, the inspectors at HSE will be visiting Construction Sites nationwide with a specific focus on dust control.

They will be checking that employers like ourselves (along with workers) know the risks, plan their work accordingly and are using the right controls and PPE to keep safe.

Always remember the hierarchy of controls:

1 – Eliminate the risks from dust with effective design and planning. For example, by using pre-cut materials where possible.

2 – Minimise the risks to your health by using suitable control measures.

3 – Be safe and wear an appropriate respiratory mask.

Why is dust so dangerous?

Dust on a construction site can lead to serious health risks. Regularly breathing dust over a long time can cause life changing lung disease. While we use the term ‘dust’ as a general description, there are actually three different types of dust:

Silica Dust which is found in materials such as concrete, mortar and sandstone.
Wood Dust which is created when working on construction sites when using MDF and plywood.
General Dust is the dust that is made from materials that contain very little or no silica.

What health issues can dust cause?

The main dust related diseases that can be harmful for those in a construction environment are:

• Lung Cancer
• Silicosis
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Asthma

While most of the health issues related to dust exposure take years to develop, silicosis and asthma can affect construction workers much more quickly.

The reason that dust can be so harmful long term is that it builds up in your lungs and harms them gradually. This means that by the time that any health issues are detected, the damage has already been done.

In the UK, it is estimated that around 500 construction workers die from exposure to silica dust every year. To reduce this, we can implement various control methods to help protect our team on construction sites. This includes using silica free abrasives, controlling the spread of dust, minimising the number of people working on site when dust is an issue and using extraction tools to remove the dust. There is also Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) such as face masks but for them to work effectively, they have to be fitted correctly.

You can find out more about the health risks of dust and managing construction health risks using the link below:

HSE Construction Health Risks

At HF, we have four core values of Safety, Quality, People and Integrity and we are constantly pushing to ensure that these are delivered time and time again. At HF, we are an ambitious and diverse family of companies offering superior quality and exceptional customer service. Attracting and retaining the best talent creates positive returns and ensures we continue to make a significant contribution for our customers, staff, suppliers and communities.

Our family culture stretches back over three centuries in business yet it means much more than dates and numbers. It’s quite literally, the core of our business. With senior-level hands-on management from initial planning to final handover coupled with the opportunity to tap into a wide range of varied services and associated consultants, we can offer our customers unsurpassed levels of genuinely in-house capabilities. All driven by the values that are instilled in our entire team across all the companies within HF as ‘A Company Well Connected’.