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  • Breathing in dust and hazardous substances can cause serious damage to your nasal passages,

  • windpipe and lungs.

  • So where do these risks come from?

  • There are a number of places

  • 1. Dust on surfaces

  • 2. Dust exposure on building sites, farms and even bakeries

  • 3. Dust from sanding, woodworking and stone cutting and

  • 4. Exposure to asbestos, especially in maintenance work

  • Also your health is at risk from breathing in vapours and fumes when working with or

  • 5. Mixing and decanting chemicals

  • 6. Disturbing contaminated surfaces

  • 7. Being exposed to fumes from welding, vehicles or lab work

  • What are the causes of exposure?

  • Exposure to dust or fumes can be as a result of many things including the obvious such

  • as

  • 9. poor house keeping

  • But also

  • 10. poor extraction at the source of the problem

  • 11. Poorly maintained or ill-fitting masks or respirators

  • 12. lack of proper storage and

  • 13. spillages

  • And finally an overall

  • 14. lack of suitable training and awareness of the problems and health risks

  • So how does all this affect your health?

  • Your health can be seriously damaged by exposure, which can result in:

  • 15A. You not being about to do the activities you take for granted

  • 15. Work related asthma

  • 16. Obstruction of the airways known as COPD

  • 17. Respiratory allergy and sensitisation

  • 18. Cancers and

  • 19. Asbestosis

  • And don’t forget

  • 20. Smoking will just make it worse

  • So how do you control the risks?

  • First of all, determine the controls suitable to your workplace. There are a number of practical

  • things you can do such as:

  • 21. Install good extraction systems for removing the dust and fumes

  • And don’t forget to

  • 22. Maintain your equipment

  • 23. Avoid working with asbestos by doing the work in some other way

  • 24. Take measures to Dampen down dusty areas/tasks

  • 25. Minimise contamination to your clothing and work surfaces

  • 26. Select the correct respirator, or mask for the substances you are working with

  • 27. Keep monitoring your systems for reduction in dust and fumes levels

  • And finally

  • 28. Practice good storage and house keeping, such as cleaning up spills quickly

  • Following these examples will help reduce your health risks at work. For more information

  • check out theget helpchapter at the end of this DVD and in the guidance pack.

Breathing in dust and hazardous substances can cause serious damage to your nasal passages,

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