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Edward Lowton
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Dust on recycling sites
28 September 2016
A report by the Health and Safety Laboratory suggests employees should be exposed to a maximum of 10 µg/m³ of dust over an 8-hour period. Yet, the same study found that employees on recycling sites are regularly exposed to general airborne dust way above this level.
Harry Harrison, head of division at Cannon Confidential, which provides confidential document handling, collection and destruction services, said: “Document destruction generates enormous volumes of dust. This is bad for the working environment, because the dust can have a negative impact on the health of our staff.”
Due to excessive dust, employees are often compelled to wear masks or worse still, to not work at all. Harrison added: “The air quality was so bad that employees who wore contact lenses couldn’t even go into the room.”
Airborne particles are seen as an unavoidable part of recycling but an air purification system can mitigate much of the damage. Industrial purification systems make it up to 70% easier to maintain a hygienic and clean working environment. Cannon Confidential chose to install Zehnder Clean Air Solutions.
