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WORK-RELATED DISEASES


and perchlorate caused the big one. The shockwave measured 3.5 on the Richter Scale.


Something all these factories had in common was that they had cleaning routines and ventilation systems. What they did not have was professionally designed industrial fume extraction systems or proper industrial dust collection systems. It takes a specialist company to appreciate the risks and to design a solution for them.


“Sweeping up dust stirs up more dust. Disturbing dust that has accumulated on roof beams or suspended ceilings can be a deadly mistake.”


Sweeping up dust stirs up more dust. Disturbing dust that has accumulated on roof beams or suspended ceilings can be a deadly mistake. Ventilation systems also tempt employers into a false sense of security. Ordinary ventilation systems that are not part of purpose-designed industrial dust collection systems will almost certainly concentrate dust in hard to access ducts and other damaging places. In time, hidden dust accumulations pose serious risks of fire, explosion, or toxic air quality.


TOXIC INJURIES Fire and explosion are, of course, dramatic. The costs are easy to calculate because a multitude of insurance companies will do that for you, but there are insidious dangers even more likely to be costing your company and employees dearly.


The cost of harmful substance exposure in the workplace is hard to determine because it manifests in a variety of ways including reduced production, sick pay, lost expertise, agency cover fees, training replacement staff, bad publicity and (only occasionally) HSE fines and lawsuits.


According to government statistics, 26.8m working days are lost in the UK each year due to work-related ill health. That’s nearly seven times as many as are lost due to work-related accidents (3.9m).


Modern products are ever more synthetic and the range of substances they contain is an increasing concern for consumers, workers and employers. The number of illnesses with confirmed links to particular chemicals gets longer all the time. Many cause cancers, lung damage, or diabetes. Some even cause sexual dysfunction and mental impairment.


The connection between serious allergies such as asthma and airborne pollutants is now firmly established. Asthma causes three deaths in the UK


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every day and costs British taxpayers a billion pounds a year in asthma treatment. Other research has found that 41% of British people suffer from some degree of hay-fever and that it reduces the productivity of afflicted workers by 26%.


Many employers don’t realise how small the quantities of fumes or toxic dust need to be to cause an effect. For example, an industry that has recently been subject to scrutiny is the humble nail bar. Airborne chemicals often encountered in nail bars and beauty salons include butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, toluene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate, isopropyl acetate, acetonitrile and ammonia. There are serious concerns about the harmful long-term consequences for shop employees. No business is too small to have a problem.


Metal workers such as welders and fettlers are at considerable toxic risk from metallic dusts and fumes. It’s now recognised there are serious long-term cancer and breathing risks from inhaling the fumes and dust generated by grinding stones, metallic dust and welding fumes.


Electronics companies face a similar problem. While some operations are conducted in ‘clean rooms’, this does not protect workers in very close proximity to manual or semi-manual soldering operations. A solder fume extraction system needs to be purpose- designed. Ventilation and general air filtering alone are not enough.


The Health and Safety at Work Act, COSHH and industry-specific standards such as welding fume extraction regulations are clear that employers have responsibilities to tackle the risks properly.


However, there is no guarantee that welding fume ventilation policies will do much good unless the welding fume ventilation system has been installed by a professional engineer. Fumes aren’t visible and poorly functioning ventilation systems add to the problems - by relocating hazards to where they’re harder to control.


Moving accumulations of fumes or dust from where they are most apparent is a mere cosmetic exercise if they aren’t effectively captured.


Cancers and breathing problems caused by dust and fumes can take years to develop, by which time workers may have changed employers or even occupation. This does nothing to diminish the damage inflicted on our businesses. Each business simply suffers from the negligence of others - spreading the harm into the economy and population at large.


The days when known risks could be buried and ignored (as asbestos was) are gone. Big data is increasingly exposing the connections between cause and effect, exposing companies to compensation claims. Competently installed industrial fume extraction systems are every business’ best defence.


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