Dust and Fume Pollution – Case Study
“With an increasing awareness about the quality of air we breathe and protection of the environment, it is time to find new answers for dust and fume pollution” comments Mr Prestidge from Egmont Air, New Zealand’s leader in dust and fume extraction.
For most woodworkers and manufacturers, poor extraction design or an outdated system is the main culprit for high levels of dust in the workplace and/or discharged to atmosphere.
In this constantly changing industry, machines are often added, work processes or factory layouts are changed and insufficient consideration is given to extraction and ventilation requirements as the factory develops.
A free on-site evaluation by one of Egmont Airs’ trained consultants will identify the specific cause and appropriate solutions to reduce airborne dust & fume in the workplace. Modifying guards, improving extraction, and/or ventilation are workable options based on factors such as operator movements, machinery used, material composition, rate-of-dispersion, etc. Each specific application can be independently evaluated so the best solution is provided with the most advantageous outcomes and results.
Old cyclone and fan systems typically provide poor extraction levels, being designed for traditional woodwork machinery rather than the advent of CNC machinery with faster cutting speeds, working with MDF and formaldehyde material. Higher extraction rates are required and specified to cope with these situations and achieve optimum extraction of fine dusts.
Addressing WES levels in the workplace is a case-by-case evaluation, the secret to lowering nuisance or hazardous fumes and dust in the workplace is to ‘extract at source’. This is usually best achieved by strategically placed capture hoods that remove the particles before reaching the operators breathing zone and spreading throughout the working environment.
When specifying extraction airflow rates, consideration must be given to each type of machine, working material and operating speed by a trained dust extraction engineer to allow capture of the fine particles around the cutting/sanding head. In this way, a properly designed centralized extraction system will capture and remove the particles from the workplace environment. The outcome is beneficial in many ways…
- Less dust in the working atmosphere, healthier & more productive working environment
- Central collection of dusts, Cleaner workshop, less non-productive time.
- Optimum extraction at cutting heads, less planning marks/bruising and better machining without re-work.
Air-cleaners and Forced-Ventilation are excellent alternatives where ‘capture at source’ is not a feasible option because of a particular manufacturing process. Air-cleaners and Forced-ventilation options are an economical solution and provide a continual ‘cleaning effect’ to lower airborne dusts and fume in the workplace atmosphere.
A review of extraction and ventilation systems is certainly appropriate and timely, employees can develop severe respiratory health problems which is inevitably connected with previous exposure to fine dust or smoke particles. Many of these situations can be rectified with a simple on-site evaluation and Egmont Air system in place.
Egmont Air offer experienced, qualified and professional advice for any dust or fume extraction application. Contact Egmont Air today via www.egmontair.co.nz or 0800 781 200 for a free catalogue, information, or on-site visit.