Leveraging purpose-built dust monitoring
Recently, experts in the UK have warned against the dangers of working with artificial stone worktops. Engineered (or artificial) stone worktops were first introduced in the 1960s as a more affordable alternative to natural stones, such as: marble, granite, or quartz. For decades, workers have cut engineered stone to fit houses, offices, and other buildings, unaware of the potential dangers of their activity. But now, with cases of silicosis rising sharply among those working with engineered stone, employers find themselves looking for a way to protect their teams from this previously unidentified threat.
In this article, we’ll briefly review the unique challenges that dust poses to workers, and then we’ll explain how artificial stone worktops, in particular, can impact their health and safety. Finally, we’ll review how organisations can leverage purpose-built dust monitoring technology from Trolex and Reactec to help protect their workers from silicosis and other dust-related industrial diseases.
The challenges of risk management for occupational dust
When it comes to known workplace risks, dust is particularly challenging to address adequately.
Unlike vibration or noise, which stop when tools or equipment are shutoff, dust can linger in an environment long after the activity which produces it has ceased. In fact, dust can remain in the air for 20 or more days after it’s been created. Additionally, dust related industrial diseases - including silicosis, COPD, and lung cancer - can stay latent for years following exposure, meaning workers might not experience any significant symptoms until the disease has progressed significantly. Plus, the harm caused by exposure to dust can vary dramatically from person to person: one worker may experience skin irritation, while another may develop a more serious condition.
And in addition to these challenges, employers must also consider that dust is everywhere. It’s a microscopic threat to your workforce, and it’s all-but impossible to eliminate from the workplace. Common sources of dust include rock, sand, gravel, clay, and stone, and workers across any number of industries - including construction, rail, and engineering - regularly interact with these materials.
We’ve written before about why one-size-fits-all solutions for dust monitoring and management, including those based upon periodic third party risk assessments, fall well short of protecting workers from the unique dangers of dust. Below, we’ll dig more deeply into the specific threats posed by artificial stone to workers, and explain why purpose-built dust monitoring technology is the best solution to address this rising issue.
Artificial stone: a unique and dangerous threat to worker health and safety
Artificial stone, also called engineered stone, has been a popular alternative to expensive natural stone since the 1960s. Recently, as demand for these products has continued to increase, there has been a sharp and alarming uptick in cases of a “severe progressive accelerated form of silicosis” among engineered stone workers in the UK.
Dr. Jo Feary, a consultant in occupational lung diseases at Royal Brompton Hospital, is an authority on this topic. In a recent paper, she reviewed why artificial stone can be so dangerous for workers and identified two primary issues: one, artificial stone has a high concentration (over 90%) of silica content, and very fine particles are generated when the stone is cut. And two; artificial stone worktops are often ‘dry cut’ and polished, meaning without water suppression of dust, which leads to significantly increased presence of airborne silica dust. This perfect storm of conditions has contributed to the sharp rise in cases of silicosis among workers who cut and install artificial stone.
It’s clear that something must be done to address this issue, and soon. Currently, there are calls to ban artificial stone, but unless and until such drastic measures are taken, organisations should be looking for solutions that are achievable in the near term.
According to a study led by Dr. Patrick Howlett, a Medical Research Council Clinical Research Fellow at Imperial College London, one clear solution is to limit workers’ exposure to silica dust.
Joe Marais, Product Development Manager at Trolex, added to the discussion:
“The recent spotlight on silicosis in the workplace is well published. With Artificial Stone, the energy with which dusts - containing significant amounts of RCS - is released is a particular cause for concern, in addition to the long latency of fine dust particles remaining suspended in the air. It has a direct effect on the ability of traditional at-source control measures to effectively control exposure. But now, real-time monitoring can provide employees and employers with invaluable data pertaining to the effectiveness of control measures, include various Administrative Control Measures, such as taking a break in a clean area. This will not only reduce the operatives’ overall Time Weighted Average exposure to RCS, but also allow for control measures such as wetting agents to reduce the residual RCS within the working environment.”
Trolex and Reactec: A better way to monitor and manage dust at work
To actually monitor and manage your workers’ exposure to silica dust, it’s critical to adopt an approach that makes it possible for you to actually understand the when, where, and how much of their exposure. Traditional third-party risk assessments can only go so far towards providing you with the information needed to protect your workers. An averages-and-estimates-driven approach clearly isn’t doing enough to keep workers safe and healthy given the rise in cases of silicosis among the UK’s workforce.
Fortunately, there is technology that’s purpose-built to help you protect your teams from the dangers of occupational dust.
Trolex is the leader in dust monitoring technology. Their cutting-edge range of products includes the XD1+ personal dust monitor, which provides personalised, real-time insight into your workers’ risk from exposure to airborne dust. The XD1+ is a lightweight device that’s incredibly easy to use: just press a single button to turn it on, secure it in place, and you’re ready to work. Throughout a shift, the XD1+ constantly collects data from the environment and provides instant alerts that empower your teams to instantly make better, safer decisions.
And now, the XD1+ is supported by Reactec’s powerful analytics platform, enabling even faster decision-making and providing even deeper insights.
By pairing the XD1+ with R-Link, workers can view their own dust exposure levels right on their watch face. This enables them to take fast, confident action to avoid exposure to potentially dangerous levels of dust. This keeps workers more situationally aware and, ultimately, safer. Plus, the data collected by the XD1+ is automatically stored in an ultra-secure, cloud-based platform that transforms information from the field into actionable intelligence that organisations can use to drive better, more informed decision-making.
And since data from the XD1+ can be overlaid with any other exposure data from your Reactec Analytics - like vibration, noise, or dangerous proximity - you’ll have an unprecedented 360-degree view of your workplace risk environment. With this level of insight, you can identify patterns, trends, hotspots, and take action to adjust ways of working, or refine your controls.
Adrian Eccles, Technical Product Manager at Trolex, provided a summary of the connected dust monitoring technology:
"With the Trolex XD1+ as your connected personal real-time dust monitor, supported by Reactec’s robust watch and cloud-based Analytic, we’re leveraging revolutionary real-time personal monitoring technology with automatic data collection and powerful data analytics to help you control exposure to harmful respirable dust like never before. The dust exposure level can be seen in real time, on the connected watch, and the analytics can give management full insight to the exposure levels that have been seen.”
Silicosis and other dust-related diseases are unique in many ways. They’re difficult to tackle, but with the right mindset and technology in place, they’re also preventable.
