By law, workers exposed to dust must undergo personal exposure monitoring.
The frequency of monitoring depends on the risks identified in your initial assessments, but as a minimum, workers should be monitored once a year.
The aim of exposure monitoring is to:
- Ensure exposure remains below legal limits
- Keep risk assessments and action plans up to date
- Assess the effectiveness of current controls
- Detect failures in control measures that could lead to health issues
- Identify the need for health surveillance
Before starting, you must document the purpose of monitoring, what you'll measure, and how the data will be used. Without clear goals, you may end up with useless data.
Traditionally, dust exposure is measured by collecting air samples near the worker’s breathing zone (about 30cm from the mouth and nose). These samples are sent to a lab for analysis to calculate dust concentration.
Gravimetric analysis is the standard method, but real-time monitoring using methods like OPC is becoming more popular. Real-time monitoring allows immediate action and alerts if dust levels exceed set points, helping to protect workers.
Health & Safety inspectors prefer a clear, documented plan over piles of raw data. A systematic approach makes life easier for you, your workers, and the inspectors.
Our 'Managing Dust Safely' process is simple: Monitor It. Measure It. Manage It.
We offer practical solutions to reduce risk. There's no shortcut to workplace safety—just effective, ongoing management.
