On many sites, “temporary” dust workarounds become the new normal. A portable fan here, a bit of plastic there, and months later exposures creep up and housekeeping fails. The result is higher health risk, rework, and difficulty meeting HSE expectations under COSHH.

How short-term fixes turn permanent

• No baseline: Without initial PM readings, teams cannot tell if controls actually work.
• Ownership drift: If no one owns dust control, stop-gaps linger past their intended end date.
• Hidden cost: Clogged filters and poor airflow under load reduce capture efficiency, so more dust settles and needs cleaning.
• Behavioural lock-in: People adapt to poor controls and stop reporting them.

Spot the warning signs early

• Plastic sheeting becomes a standing partition; tape repairs accumulate.
• Vacuum used without bags or with constantly tripping alarms.
• Air scrubber left on but PM readings never recorded.
• Housekeeping relies on sweeping instead of M/H-class vacuums.

Make controls time-bound and owned

• Set review dates for every temporary measure and name a responsible person.
• Measure outcomes. Use a particulate monitor to compare PM2.5/PM10 before and after controls.
• Replace makeshift barriers with proper enclosures and negative air where work persists.
• Budget for consumables: bags, pre-filters, and H13/H14 filters to maintain performance.

Escalate when risk justifies it

• For RCS (WEL 0.1 mg/m³), move quickly to on-tool extraction, water suppression, and H-class vacuums.
• Introduce air cleaning in adjacent spaces to stop migration and protect non-exposed workers.
• Record controls in the COSHH assessment and verify with periodic readings.

Practical takeaways

• Define an end date and owner for every temporary control.
• Measure PM levels to prove effectiveness and trigger upgrades.
• Replace stop-gaps with engineered solutions when work continues.
• Resource consumables to prevent performance drop-off.

Temporary measures are useful—briefly. Tie them to data, ownership, and clear deadlines or they will quietly become permanent.