Respiratory protection This dozer is fit for purpose with dual HEPA filtration and pressurisation .
No doom and gloom: dust control in action BREATHESAFE OWNER AND DIRECTOR NICHOLAS JOHNSTONE REVEALS THAT KEEPING AN EVERYDAY WORK ENVIRONMENT AS DUST-FREE AS POSSIBLE IS TRULY ACHIEVABLE. VANESSA ZHOU WRITES.
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achine operators have direct contact with the air they breathe inside the cabins. Though the work environment is inescapable, it is certainly not one without hope. Breathesafe owner and director Nicholas Johnstone proposes four ways to keep dust exposure levels to a minimum inside the cabin.
What do you think about Safe Work Australia’s plan in slashing the regulated occupational exposure limits for respirable silica dust? At this moment it’s just a draft proposal. I think it’s going to bounce backward and forward between the industry and
Safe Work. I’m hoping that the minimum that comes through is 0.05 – at the moment it’s 0.1 milligrams per cubic metre over an eight-hour period, and they’re talking about 0.02. I think that’s what they should do, based on the fact there are systems available for providing air quality better than 0.02. Based on the trials we’ve done, we can easily achieve it, and it’s not going to cost an arm and leg to do it. How does the industry achieve that? We’re talking to the mines and quarries inspectorate, which up here in Queensland has been extremely proactive in really talking to sites and saying, ‘Look, what are you doing
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about respirable dust? Are you using HEPA filters?’ They’re very simple statements to say, but really, most sites will be still using the original equipment manufacturers’ filters. All the OEMs of mobile equipment, whoever it is, have different grades for filters – what we find is that end users are still under the impression that what comes supplied in the vehicles is providing a safe work environment for the operator. The fact of the matter is that is not the case. There are statements from all OEMs saying, you might buy a machine and have the options of up to five different grades of filters to go into it. However, there is a disclaimer that states that any of these
