Seasons change how air moves through buildings. In summer, open doors and warm air create crossflows that spread dust. In winter, shut doors, stack effect and temporary heating can trap contaminants. Adjusting controls with the weather prevents surprise exposure peaks.

Map the airflow before changing kit

Walk the space with light paper strips or a smoke pen to see direction and speed. Note open doors, louvres, stairwells and lifts. Record where dust settles and where it escapes. Repeat after any layout change.

Adapt controls to the season

Use fans to steer clean-to-dirty flow. In summer, align extraction so air moves from welfare to workface to discharge, not the other way around. In winter, seal leaks and provide planned make-up air to maintain negative pressure without pulling cold air across workers. Increase filter checks when humidity rises or heaters are in use, as filter loading can change quickly under these conditions.

Verify with numbers

Use air monitoring to spot drift early. Track a simple PM trend in the highest-risk zone; if readings climb after a weather shift, review door states and flow direction. Remember to judge air scrubbers and negative air machines by airflow under load, not free-air figures.

Combine air control with housekeeping

Seasonal drafts re-agitate settled dust, so double down on vacuum-based clean-down and avoid sweeping. Run background air cleaning between tasks; a MAXVAC Dustblocker can support steady reduction while the team resets an area.

Practical takeaways

• Check how air actually moves on site whenever weather or layout changes.
• Orient fans to maintain clean-to-dirty flow and stable negative pressure.
• Track PM in a sentinel area; react to rising trends, not just alarms.
• Judge equipment by under-load performance and increase filter checks during high humidity or heating.

Treat ventilation as a variable, not a constant. Small seasonal adjustments keep dust pathways predictable and exposures controlled.