{"id":541,"date":"2020-01-20T07:03:04","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T07:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hazardco.bbtdevelopment.com\/au\/?p=541"},"modified":"2024-04-10T21:59:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T21:59:33","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-about-silica-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hazardco.bbtdevelopment.com\/au\/blog\/what-you-need-to-know-about-silica-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SILICA DUST"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Understanding risks on site means everything in the construction industry today. The old ways won\u2019t do anymore. We want to protect ourselves, our workmates and anyone who steps foot on site.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>What is silica dust?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A valid question. Silica dust (crystalline silica) is found in some stone, rock, sand, gravel and clay. You\u2019ll mostly come across it in the following products:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bricks<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tiles<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Concrete<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some plastic material<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When these materials are worked on, a fine dust is released known as respirable crystalline silica or silica dust. And it\u2019s this dust that is harmful when inhaled into your lungs. Needless to say, it\u2019s something for tradies to be aware of.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>How can workers be exposed to it?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You may be exposed to silica dust if your work involves:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Construction<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kitchen benchtop manufacturing, finishing and fitting<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abrasive blasting<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Manufacturing of concrete, bricks and tiles<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Monumental masonry work<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Concrete drilling, cutting, grinding, fettling, mixing, handling, dry shoveling, tunneling<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quarrying and roading<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Foundries<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Are there significant health risks?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In short, yes. And they can be incredibly serious if the right precautions aren\u2019t taken. As silica dust is 100 times smaller than a grain of sand, you can be breathing it in without even knowing it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Workers may develop a series of lung diseases from breathing in silica dust, including: silicosis, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There is also some evidence that exposure to the dust may cause kidney disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>What can be put in place on site to mitigate the risks?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To follow work health and safety laws, employers should eliminate or reduce exposure to hazards by mitigating risks. This can be done in a number of ways:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Isolate work areas<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Use physical barriers or computer numerical control (CNC) machines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Look for dust control features<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When buying equipment ensure dust-generating equipment has a dust collection system with a filtered air supply.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Use a H-class vacuum cleaner<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Workers should not be using household vacuums to remove dust.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Set up exclusion zones<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mark the boundaries of work areas where dust is created. The signs should warn workers and specify the PPE to be used.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">PPE should not be the first or only control measure you consider but should be used. Seek expert advice when choosing it and consult with the worker who will be using it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>On-tool extraction<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Use <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Local Exhaust Ventilation<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">( <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">LEV) that fits directly onto the hand-held machines. This is one of the most effective ways of controlling dust.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Water suppression<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To be used when LEV is not suitable. Water should be used through non-electric tools to wet dust down at the point of dust generation. Also ensure equipment and work areas are cleaned regularly with water.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Respiratory (breathing) protection<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The type of respirator you choose will depend on the job and the levels of toxicity. Always choose a respirator that fully protects the worker and carry out fit testing so it is sealed tightly against the face.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Exposure and health monitoring\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Provide health monitoring for all your workers who may be exposed to silica dust. You can engage with an occupational health practitioner at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.okhealth.co.nz\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">OK Health<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> &#8211; HazardCo customers even get a special discount.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Training<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Health and safety starts with educating your workers. Provide them with information, training, and instruction on the control measures and the potential health. It is their right.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The above, is of course, just guidance. Employers are required to ensure the health and safety of their workers and others at their workplace, and have a duty to control the risks associated with the job at hand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But with this said, workers also have a duty to take care of themselves and others too. At HazardCo, we\u2019re all about education. Equipping workers with the knowledge they need to make sure workers get home safe at the end of everyday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To know about health and safety and how to protect your team, <a href=\"http:\/\/hazardconz.bbtdevelopment.com\/\">get in touch today<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Understanding risks on site means everything in the construction industry today. The old ways won\u2019t do anymore. We want to protect ourselves, our workmates and anyone who steps foot on site.\u00a0 What is silica dust? A valid question. Silica dust (crystalline silica) is found in some stone, rock, sand, gravel and clay. You\u2019ll mostly come [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[8,12],"class_list":["post-541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-en-au","tag-physical-health","tag-safety"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SILICA DUST - HazardCo AU<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SILICA DUST - HazardCo AU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Understanding risks on site means everything in the construction industry today. 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