Reduce sickness absence caused by dust and fume

By causing occupational lung disease, which causes ill health and the absence that comes with it. Dust and fume (and mists, vapours and gases) are airborne contaminants hazardous to health when breathed, and exposure over time causes lung and respiratory diseases - occupational asthma, COPD, bronchitis, airway irritation, and rarer serious lung conditions. These are serious, often chronic and sometimes permanent illnesses, and occupational lung disease is a major cause of work-related ill health. Workers who develop respiratory illness from dust and fume are off sick with it (both acute episodes and chronic effects), so dust and fume, by causing lung disease, cause sickness absence, as well as the human cost of the illness. So reducing dust and fume both protects workers' health (from the lung disease) and cuts the sickness absence that illness causes - the two go together, because the absence comes from the illness the dust and fume cause. Controlling the exposure before the illness develops is what protects health and prevents the absence. This is general information, not health-and-safety advice.

LEV (local exhaust ventilation) is the key engineering control for dust and fume - a system that captures the dust and fume at or near the point where it is generated, before it spreads into the workplace and reaches workers' breathing zones. It works by drawing the contaminated air away through a hood or capture point positioned at the source, into ductwork, and away (cleaning or filtering it and discharging it safely) - removing the dust and fume at source, capturing it before workers breathe it. This protects workers' respiratory health at the root, by stopping the dust and fume reaching their breathing zones. LEV sits high in the hierarchy of control - above respiratory protective equipment (RPE) - because controlling the hazard at source (capturing the contaminant) is more effective and reliable than protecting individuals from contamination still in the air. So LEV is one of the most important controls for dust and fume under COSHH. But it only protects workers if it is actually working, so it must be maintained and regularly tested - under COSHH, thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months - to keep it effectively controlling the dust and fume.

Because an LEV system only protects workers if it is actually functioning effectively, and LEV systems can deteriorate or fail - so it must be maintained and tested to keep working. Under COSHH, LEV must be thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months (and properly maintained). This thorough examination and test checks that the LEV is working properly - capturing the dust and fume effectively as it should - and identifies any deterioration or faults that would reduce its effectiveness. This matters because an LEV system that is not maintained and tested may not be working properly (deteriorated, blocked, damaged, or lost effectiveness), leaving workers exposed to the dust and fume it is supposed to be capturing, without anyone realising - a false sense of protection. So the regular examination and testing verifies that the LEV is actually working and controlling the dust and fume, so the protection is real. So keeping LEV working through proper maintenance and the regular (at least 14-monthly) thorough examination and test is essential to it actually protecting workers - do not just install LEV, but maintain and test it. This is both a legal requirement and what ensures the LEV genuinely protects workers.

Effective control often involves a mixture of measures alongside LEV. Other source controls include: process changes (doing the work in ways that generate less dust or fume, or substituting less hazardous materials); water suppression (using water to suppress dust so it does not become airborne); enclosure (enclosing the process so the dust or fume is contained); and good general ventilation and housekeeping (keeping the workplace clean so dust does not accumulate and become airborne). So controlling dust and fume can combine LEV (capturing at source) with process changes, suppression, enclosure and good housekeeping. Respiratory protective equipment (RPE) - masks and respirators - is used where the other controls do not adequately control the exposure, as a further layer, but it is lower in the hierarchy because it only protects the individual wearing it correctly, rather than controlling the hazard at source - so it complements, not replaces, the source controls, and must be suitable, fit-tested, correctly used and maintained. Plus health surveillance where there is a risk, to catch early signs of respiratory disease. So the control is a mixture prioritising source control (LEV and the rest), with RPE for residual exposure and health surveillance to monitor.

It is largely a workshop and industrial matter, but there is a real kitchen analogue. Dust and fume from processes (grinding, cutting, welding, woodworking, and many industrial processes) are a major occupational health risk in workshop and industrial settings, where LEV and the COSHH controls are central - so the dust-and-fume/LEV focus is primarily a workshop matter. A commercial kitchen is a different environment, but cooking generates fume (and grease-laden vapour and smoke), a form of airborne contaminant, and the kitchen extraction is the system that captures and removes it - the kitchen's equivalent of LEV, drawing the cooking fume away. So the principle - capturing airborne contaminants at source through extraction to protect the air workers breathe - applies to the kitchen too, where the extraction captures the cooking fume. And keeping the kitchen extraction clean and working is part of it removing the cooking fume (and heat) effectively, protecting the air kitchen staff breathe. So the dust-and-fume control here is primarily a workshop matter (LEV for industrial dust and fume), with a kitchen analogue in the extraction that captures cooking fume - both about capturing airborne contaminants at source. This is general information, not health-and-safety advice.

By preventing the occupational lung disease that dust and fume cause, which is what causes the absence. Dust and fume cause respiratory illness (asthma, COPD, bronchitis and worse), and workers off sick with that illness are the sickness absence dust and fume cause. So controlling the dust and fume - capturing it at source through LEV (kept working by maintenance and testing), complemented by other controls and RPE where needed - protects workers from breathing it, preventing the respiratory illness, and thereby prevents the absence that illness would cause. So the health protection and the absence reduction are the same thing: controlling the exposure prevents the illness, which prevents the absence (and the human cost). This is why controlling dust and fume is worthwhile both for workers' health and for reducing absence - they go together. The key is effective control at source, above all through well-maintained, tested LEV, so the dust and fume are genuinely controlled and the illness genuinely prevented. LEV that is not working (not maintained and tested) would leave workers exposed, so the illness and absence would continue - which is why keeping the LEV working through testing and maintenance is essential to actually reducing the absence.