Flooring contractor? Let’s stamp down on dust.

By James Parrott – Commercial Account Executive. 

As a flooring contractor, you might think you can see how dusty it gets by just looking at your clothing and the surfaces around you. But did you know that what you can’t see – the tiny particles of dust that aren’t even visible to the naked eye – can be dangerous too?

How problems can happen

When stripping out an old floor, prepping for the new flooring to be laid, cutting materials to fit, sweeping up, and many of the other tasks that you do in your job, dust can enter the air. Breathing in even a tiny amount of dust each day can cause big health problems.

No one wants their career or (worse!) their life cut short by construction dust. However, the sad truth is that regularly breathing it in can cause breathing problems and diseases such as lung cancer. But if you can’t even see the whole issue, what can you do about it?

Think ‘dust’ before starting the job

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) advises eliminating risk for workers through good design and planning. Just like the saying ‘measure twice, cut once’, when you take the right steps first, you can help reduce the risk of something going wrong down the line. In this case, you can help reduce the amount of dust you may breathe in – as highlighted by HSE’s recent ‘Dust Kills’ campaign, which urges you to consider things such as these:

·       Selecting tools – could you use tools that create less dust? The more powerful tools are, the more dust they tend to produce. What other options are there.

·       Buying materials – could you get materials that are already cut to size and in the right finish? Or could you recommend a completely different type of material that creates less dust?

·       Who works with dust – could different people do the work that produces dust, so it’s not always the same person exposed to it?

·       Where you work – can you cut materials in an open space, away from as many other people as possible, or at least in a space where less people need to go? Just being outside isn’t going to remove the risk for whoever is using the tool, but it could help the rest of the team. If you have to be inside, you could use dust containment measures so only one area is affected.

These are great first steps, but you’ll also need to reduce any dust that you or your team could be exposed to.

Keep dust down on the job

These are just some of the ways HSE recommends to help reduce the amount of construction dust you or your team may inhale while you’re working on a flooring job:

• Wear the right mask – or ‘Respiratory Protective Equipment’, to give it it’s formal name. Choose one with that has the right level of protection and make sure it’s worn right and tight. Facial hair gets in the way of a tight fit, so it’s a good idea to stay cleanshaven.
• Use water when creating dust – water weighs down some of the dust. It’ll need to be flowing correctly and continually throughout the task to work, and you can buy systems to help with this.
• Wear clothes that dust doesn’t cling to – if little dust particles are on your clothes, they can be inhaled up your nose or into your mouth when you breathe. The less dust that’s on your work clothing, the less risk there is of this happening.
• Use on-tool extraction – not just a common-or-garden commercial vacuum, an actual dust extraction that fits onto the tool. But having machinery to provide general ventilation to indoor areas can also be helpful.

So, when you’re planning your next flooring job – or any construction task where dust might be an issue – make sure to plan ahead to minimise the risk to yourself and your team. 

Don’t forget, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) applies to activities which may expose workers to construction dust and there are three things employers need to do as part of this:

• Assess (the risks)
• Control (the risks)
• Review (the controls)

You can get specific details about construction dust and what you must do on the Health and Safety Executive’s website, and you can come to us for your insurance. Here at Howden, we provide comprehensive insurance for flooring contractors and construction workers – just take a look at our specialist flooring contractor insurance to see how it could cover your business.

Please note: this information in this article is intended to provide useful starting points for flooring contractors. It is not comprehensive and does not constitute advice. This article contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and licensed under the Open Government Licence.