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George Bebbington - Bureau Veritas HS&E Ltd
Online advisor - 3 posts
The workplace exposure limit (WEL, formally a MEL) for cotton dust applies to the handling raw or waste cotton and not dust from finished articles. However exposure to all dusts should be adequatley controlled. In your case particular care will probabley be needed when cleaning machines not to put deposited dust back into the atmosphere i.e. use a vacuum cleaner. Consideration should be given to exposure to noise and possibley vibration and the usual problems associated with handling machinery with sharp needles and moving parts.
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George Bebbington - Bureau Veritas HS&E Ltd
Online advisor - 3 posts
There are two separate issues here that should not be confused. One is noise at work and the other is noise nuisance. The use of the words Noise Abatement Order implies an order issued under the Environmental Protection Act by the local authority to abate a noise nuisance.
For Noise at Work the issue is noise exposure for employed persons and the exposure limits are the same whether the noise is from machinery or from music, or indeed a combination of sources. For noise nuisance the order may specify restrictions such as noise level limits, hours of operation etc. If it merely says to abate the nuisance then the local authority should be consulted to establish their detailed requirements. There are no legal limits for environmental noise of this type. Whether the noise is classified as a nuisance or not is entirely up to the opinion of the local authority officer.
For either situation it would be worth contacting a specialist consultant for advice.
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George Bebbington - Bureau Veritas HS&E Ltd
Online advisor - 3 posts
Stephen,
When carrying out an exposure risk assessment the first step is to gather information i.e. examine the manufactures Material Safety Data Sheet, investigate data bases, other counties exposure limits, guidance from WHO etc. Information given in MSDSs can be of varying quality and always make sure that you have the latest issue. When searching the internet beware of the source of the information as it is not always well researched!
Many toner suppliers sometimes have an ?in-house? guidance exposure limit of 2mg/m3 as total inhalable dust, this is actually quite a dusty atmosphere when you consider that normal background levels of general dust in offices are around one tenth of this. Anyone who has split the smallest quantity of toner powder will know a little goes a long way, thus if there is any toner powder escaping from the printer there should be evidence of black dust deposits in the area.
Ozone is produced in small quantities by laser printers but providing that machines are regularly maintained and filters fitted correctly ozone exposure should not be a problem.
Many offices have numerous PCs, screens, people etc all producing heat, this often results in elevated temperatures and reduced humidity, leading to a range of complaints, therefore it not a bad idea to separate larger printers that produce significant heat from general office areas. This would also eliminate noise from the printer interfering with normal speech levels.
Even when the risk assessment indicates insignificant risk it is sometimes necessary to carry out some re-assurance monitoring.
Current knowledge would indicate that there is no evidence of a link between cancer and exposure to low concentrations of toner powder
George Bebbington - Casella Winton
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