Chemical Hazard

Posted: January 5th, 2023

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Chemical Hazard

Many people die each year from asthma or lung disease because of the airborne infections that have contracted at the place of work. Managers must know that if the work emits dust such as at happens in bakeries and timber yards, or any other airborne pollutant, there may be a hazard to the workers’ health (ACGIH 125; Health and Safety Executive b 4). The study pays particular attention to how installing local exhaust ventilation (LEV) would help to regulate the emissions of substantial amounts of dust and vapor by utilizing adhesives on fabrics and cutting wood. The paper also looks into the nature of emissions, and how they are likely to cause adverse health effects. The study also compares and contrasts key components of the LEV system, and how they interact to successfully control emissions that could be harmful.

Preventing Adverse Contamination at the Place of Work 

Serving in a workshop where employees cut wood and use adhesives on various fabrics increases the likelihood of coming into contact with airborne hazardous substances. Wood dust, for example, can cause serious health complications such as asthma, which those working with wood on regular basis are four times highly likely to get compared with workers in other sectors (Health and Safety Executive). A workplace exposure limit (WEL) that surpasses 3mg/m3 for hardwood dust and a WEL that goes beyond 5mg/m3 for softwood calculated based on an eight-hour-weighted mean is significantly dangerous (Health and Safety Executive). A mixture of softwood and hardwood dust should not surpass a WEL of 3mg/m3. Similarly, the number of adhesives used on fabric should not pose serious health effects to employees.

The team in charge of operations, as well as workers in the various stations, should take appropriate measures to avoid exposing employees to adverse effects. A suitable way to mitigate the issue is to follow the guidelines of control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) as provided for in Schedule 2A (Health and Safety Executive). The regulation requires employers to train all workers on the dangers and risks from the elements with which they work and the use of control regulations to avert the risks. Group leaders must also ensure that the level of exposure is well below the specified WEL (Health and Safety Executive). They must also ensure that the level of exposure is minimized to acceptable levels. It is significant to create measures that would safeguard employees from contamination by wood dust. For instance, it is imperative to remind employees not to utilize compressed airlines or to sweep up because this will interrupt the dust and make it inhalable. Furthermore, the directive should be clear that employees should perform the cleaning process using an appropriate vacuum cleaner that can serve industrial purposes without encountering significant hurdles (Health and Safety Executive). The company if possible should adopt a vacuum cleaner that at least meets the Class M criteria. Advancements in technology provide a better chance to regulate specks of dust and other airborne pollutants that could expose workers to adverse health effects.

Application of LEV 

The Health and Safety Executive a (1) defines LEV as an extract ventilation system that eliminates fumes, vapor, gases, mists, and dust out of the air so that people cannot inhale them. The employees, in this case, require an LEV system that effectively collects the air that comprises pollutants. The system should have the capacity to contain and take away the pollutant from people. Besides, the system should have the ability to purify the air and eradicate the targeted contaminants safely. Rempel, Barr, and Cooper (338) write that effective LEV structures have and attract the pollutants through the LEV hood and transmits them away. The higher the level of enclosure of the origin, the higher the chances that the regulation will be prosperous. Thus, the most appropriate LEV for the firm is the capture hood system whereby the contaminants, origin, and processes are not inside the hood (Health and Safety Executive c 19). Therefore, the hood should have enough power to produce enough movement of air at and around the origin to attract and consume the contaminated air. The hood in such a case should be in a strategic position such that it does not impede the attraction of impurities.

Key components of an LEV

Finer details of an LEV system

Various scholars support the use of LEV in controlling how dust affects workers, although they urge users not to be complacent because the system does not offer protection against all airborne pollutants. Croteau et al. (459) assess the efficiency of commercially available LEV systems for regulating respirable crystalline silica and dust exposures during operations that produce dust, such as grinding and concrete cutting. The studied group performed a wide range of union-sponsored activities and encompassed surface grinding, cutting of bricks, and cutting blocks using hand-held saws (Croteau et al. 459). The researchers deploy a randomized block design, executed under controlled field settings to assess three different ventilation rates – 75, 30, and 0 cfm, for each device (Croteau et al. 460). The treatment of each ventilation was replicated thrice randomly for an entire nine 15-minute work sessions for each subject study. Croteau et al. (462) find that the utilization of LEV caused a substantial fall in exposure to respirable dust with the exemption of those who used hand-held saws. The study further reveals that the average levels of exposure for treatments utilizing 75 cfm device were much lower than that of treatments using 30 cfm apparatus. Nevertheless, the study revealed that variations between the two treatments were only much evident for those cutting blocks for paving. The assessment further showed that although the reduction in exposure was considerable (72-92% with the low rate of ventilation and 82-96% minimization with a high rate of ventilation, exposure to respirable quartz maintained their apparent threat (Croteau et al. 463). The research revealed that exposures to quartz ranged between 1.3-2.7 x permissible exposure limit at the low rate of ventilation and 0.7-1.9 x permissible exposure limit at a high rate of ventilation (Croteau et al. 463). Regardless of its ability to provide complete protection, LEV is advantageous over traditional forms of averting the adverse effects of dust at the workstation because it can minimize the threats of employees becoming sick and can permit employees to utilize a lower category of seeking protection from respiratory complications (Croteau et al. 464; Ghorbani-Shahna and Farasati 454). Besides, the study confirms that LEV provides appropriate protection to employees during short-term work durations, minimizes exposure to nearby employees, and lessens clean-up related dust and particle exposures.

The design of the LEV should take into account several key features to achieve maximum protection of all workers. The design should be in such a way that it takes into account the quantity and procedure of apparatuses to be attached to it, the ones that are utilized together, and the layout set by the production firm (Harun, Idris and Jaya 4). Besides, the system should have info about the maker of the appliance or a proficient body’s statistics on air movement and removal capacity flow rate (Hussain et al. 9). The management must also ensure that the extraction machine functions properly and all systems are maintained appropriately. The management should hire a competent person to oversee the maintenance process, which ought to take place at least after every 14 months. The process should strictly follow the creator’s guidance for maintenance requirements. Further adherence to COSHH may help to come up with a system that is not bound to fail, and one that complies with the set regulations. COSHH, for example, advocates for continuous change to the method of work so exposure to adverse components can no longer exist (Health and Safety Executive a 1). Following the regulation further provides awareness on the need to change the materials being used by something that does not present considerable threat, as well as helps to know why it is imperative to adjust the process to minimize the rate of emission and frequency (Health and Safety Executive a 1). Following the regulation further helps to understand why reducing the number of workers working on a task reduces exposure levels.

Conclusion

The study encourages employers to embrace measures that would protect their workers from contracting ailments and other complications associated with exposure to wood dust and adhesives used on fabric. Other than enacting a series of regulations, the team leaders should proceed to install an LEV system that facilitates the extraction of emissions. The LEV should meet certain minimum qualities to avoid making additional blunders. Implementers should abide by the directives of COSHH that provide a wide range of guidelines regarding the implementation of LEV.

Works Cited

ACGIH. Industrial Ventilation – A Manual of Recommended Practice. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, 1998.

Croteau, Gerry, Guffey Steven, Flanagan Mary and Seixas Noah. “The Effect of Local Exhaust Ventilation Controls on Dust Exposures during Concrete.” AIHA Journal, vol. 63, no. 4, pp. 458-467.

Health and Safety Executive. “Wood Dust. What you need to do.” Health and Safety Executive, 2021, https://www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/wooddust.htm. Accessed 8 April, 2021.

Health and Safety Executive a. “Clearing the Air: A Simple Guide to Buying and Using Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV).” Health and Safety Executive, 2016, https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg408.pdf. Accessed 8 April, 2021.

Health and Safety Executive b. Controlling Airborne Contaminants at Work: A guide to Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV). The Stationery Office, 2017.

Health and Safety Executive c. Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) Guidance. Health & Safety Authority, 2014.

Harun, Safiq, Idris Siti, and Jaya Tamar. “A Study on the Development of Local Exhaust Ventilation System (LEV’s) for Installation of Laser Cutting Machine.” IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 238, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1-6.

Hussain, Norasikin, Ibrahim Danar, Ahmad Farrah, and Yahya Nur. “Improving Indoor Air Quality Using Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV).” Jurnal Teknologi, vol. 76, no. 6, pp. 7-11.

Ghorbani-Shahna, Farshid and Farasati Farhad. “Application of Local Exhaust Ventilation System and Integrated Collectors for Control of Air Pollutants in Mining Company.” Industrial Health, vol. 50 (5), 450-457.

Rempel, David, Barr Alan and Cooper Michael. “Effect of Hollow Bit Local Exhaust Ventilation on Respirable Quartz Dust Concentrations during Concrete Drilling.” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, vol. 16, no. 5, 2019, pp. 336-340.