Dust: an invisible and unpredictable threat to workers

Reactec explain how their R-Link smart watch effectively monitors and manages exposure to dust

ADEQUATELY monitoring and managing workers’ exposure to risk from dust poses a set of challenges that are uniquely different to other workplace risks. In contrast to noise, for example, which a person will be able to hear if it is loud enough to potentially harm their hearing, dust is not always visible to the naked eye.

And dust, unlike some other workplace risks, can remain an active threat to workers even after the activity which creates the dust has ceased.

This is partly because dust particles can remain in the air for 20 days or more, but also because negative health outcomes resulting from exposure to dust are often felt years after the exposure actually took place.

So, even if steps are being taken to protect workers from potentially dangerous dust, it is entirely possible that dust might still pose a serious threat to their health and well-being.

It would be difficult to overstate the danger that dust poses to workers in the UK. Each year in the UK alone, approximately 12,000 people die from diseases linked to past exposure to dust at work. Another 600,000 people are exposed to silica dust, a particularly dangerous type of dust and known carcinogen that is found in many materials, including rock, sand, gravel, and clay, which are common on a variety of worksites.

Aside from the fact that dust is microscopic and all-but impossible to eliminate entirely from standard workplaces, it is also uniquely difficult to monitor and manage for other reasons.

One of the many challenges faced when trying to control workers’ exposure to dust is the reality of how dust can affect different individuals in very different ways. The harm caused by exposure to dust can range from skin irritation to cancer, and it is difficult to determine what dust – or how much – will cause which problems in any one person. This is one key reason why one-size-fits-all approaches to occupational dust monitoring fall short of truly protecting the workforce.

Traditionally, third-party assessments of the risk environment with regard to dust have been relied upon in order to keep workers safe and protected. And while such assessments may provide a useful baseline for determining the type and amount of dust in a given workplace during a specific point in time, they do not provide the real-time, accurate information that is required to understand an individual workers’ actual exposure.

Trolex, a pioneer in safety technology, partnered with Reactec to bring more effective dust monitoring to the UK’s workplaces. The Trolex XD1+ is designed to be the most lightweight and practical personal dust monitoring technology on the market. With no filters, pumps, tubes, or replaceable parts, the XD1+ is said to be incredibly compact and easy to use. Workers only need to switch it on and secure it in place, and they are ready to get to work.

And now, workers can pair their XD1+ with Reactec’s latest wearable device, the R-Link smart watch, to view their own dust exposure levels on the watch face.

An individual workers’ exposure data is stored and analysed in Reactec’s ultra-secure, powerful analytics platform, which transforms information from the field into actionable intelligence that organizations can use to drive better, more informed decision-making.

And since data from the XD1+ can be overlaid with any other exposure data from Reactec Analytics – such as vibration, noise, or dangerous proximity – organizations have an unprecedented 360° view of their workplace risk environment. With this level of insight, they can identify patterns, trends, and hotspots, and take action to adjust ways of working, or refine their controls.

Monitoring workers’ exposure to potentially harmful dust particles presents unique challenges that traditional approaches to risk management simply cannot adequately address, but modern solutions are purpose-built to provide invaluable insight that can help keep workers safe and protected, all while facilitating a seamless user experience that is designed to make adoption fast and easy.