Handling Indoor Particulate Hazards with Vacuum Technology
Vacuum conveyors and industrial vacuum cleaners reduce liability exposure to dust produced during the manufacturing process.
- By Doan Pendleton
- May 01, 2024
More than 40,000 chemicals are used in U.S. industry today, and a small percentage are regulated, leaving manufacturers in the dark about potential long-term effects. But lack of regulation does not absolve manufacturers from liability when workers are exposed to air pollutants.
Fugitive Dusts
Fugitive dust, particulate matter that becomes entrained in ambient air, is part of the manufacturing environment where powders and bulk solids are processed. Fugitive dusts from chemicals, even those considered low-toxicity or nuisance dust, can cause respiratory illness, allergen risks and skin irritation (as well as combustible dust explosions); therefore, facilities are obligated to use OSHA’s hierarchy of controls to implement safeguards.
OSHA has no indoor air quality (IAQ) standards but holds employers accountable to recognize the source of poor air quality and control workplace hazards under its General Duty Clause. OSHA’s respiratory standard 1910.134 (a)(1) states the primary objective to control respiratory disease is to “prevent atmospheric contamination” of harmful dusts. Only “when effective engineering controls are not feasible,” are respirators mandated control.
Engineering Controls
Engineering controls change processes to minimize contact with hazardous chemicals. High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) industrial vacuum cleaners are an acceptable engineering control to support OSHA compliance. Best industrial hygiene practices recommend using HEPA vacs for dusts containing hazardous or toxic materials such as silica, lead, asbestos and beryllium.
OSHA’s revised Standard for Crystalline Silica advises switching to HEPA vacuums may help employers meet current permissible exposure limits (PEL). It does “not allow dry sweeping or dry brushing where such activity could contribute to employee exposure to respirable crystalline silica unless wet sweeping or HEPA-filtered vacuuming… is not feasible.”
Nearly all regulatory agencies discourage brooms and compressed air to control surface dust and recommend industrial vacuum cleaners to eliminate surface dust, not redisperse it.
Adopting the Right Solutions
Most industrial vacuum cleaners aren’t capital expenditures and cost far less than indirect costs of a single respiratory illness — and much less than proposed OSHA fines for exposing workers.
This article originally appeared in the April/May 2024 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.