After a ten-week lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses across the begin to open their doors and staff return to work amid concerns for the safety of staff.
The Importance of Clean Air
The importance of clean air and the health and safety of employees (whilst in work) has never been of such paramount importance. Ourselves included, we all need to provide clean air, protect your staff, save lives. During this time, we invite businesses to assess where else the use of clean air should be utilised within the business to protect the health and safety of employees. You wouldn’t want your staff to catch COVID-19, would you want them to contract cancer? Critical services such as wood dust extraction can help protect employees.
Clean Air in Your Workplace
Whether you manage or work as a QHSE officer in automotive, manufacturing or welding workshops, providing clean air for staff can have significantly improved the health of staff. Many businesses endeavour to take the measures to protect their staff from the spread of COVID-19; by providing additional PPE (including facemasks) along with the introduction of new social distancing measures and additional hand washing and sanitising stations. However, a large number of businesses will not introduce the measures to protect their staff from as equally life-threatening occupational illnesses, such as asthma, COPD or even cancer.
We’ve Reopened
To help businesses provide clean air and pollution-free workplaces, we are beginning to reopen our full range of services, including installations, free site assessments and COSHH testing services to best serve the UK’s manufacturing, education and automotive sectors (just to name a select few) with comprehensive local exhaust ventilation systems.
HSE Statistics
Here are some headline statistics from the HSE that highlight the importance of providing clean air for the workplace.
- 12,000 lung disease deaths are estimated to be linked with past exposures at work
- 4,000 estimated COPD deaths each year where occupational exposures contributed
- 2,760 lung cancer deaths each year as a result of past exposures
- 13,000 deaths each year are estimated to be linked to chemicals for dust exposures at work
HSE: Health and safety at work Summary statistics for Great Britain 2019. HSE (2019)
No Win, No Fee Claims
Avoid being liable for a No Win, No Fee claims where the necessary measures haven’t been put in place to protect staff from contracting occupational illnesses. By removing pollutants, such as dust and fumes, whilst also complying with the COSHH regulations can safeguard your business from potential liability claims. If you need to work at height to install an LEV system, be sure to hire a reputable scaffolding company to protect your staff.
Dust in the Workplace
In 2019, the HSE announced that they’re tightening their ‘dustbuster’ belts on food manufacturing, woodworking and construction businesses to assess how well they’re protecting workers from dust exposure in the workplace. Find out more about how the HSE are targeting controlling dust in workplaces here.
Welding Fumes in the Workplace
Whilst also in 2019, the HSE reclassified HSE mild steel welding fumes as a carcinogenic and now no longer tolerate welding activities without any Whilst also in 2019, the HSE reclassified HSE mild steel welding fumes as a carcinogenic and now no longer tolerate welding activities without any suitable exposure control measures, regardless of the duration of the activities. Find out more about the HSE’s welding fume reclassification here.
Get FREE, Expert Help
At Auto Extract Systems Ltd, we provide dust, fume and even virus control solutions for businesses across the UK and Ireland. Get in touch today to find out more about the clean air solutions we can provide for your business and staff, such as body shop dust extraction. Contact us to book a free site visit or for a no-obligation discussion on +(0)1942 267444 or via email; besides, keep in touch with us on our social media channels: Facebook, X or LinkedIn for updates.
