When offices share a site with dusty processes, visibility builds trust. Simple, well-placed air monitoring systems can show that controls are working and trigger timely action when they are not.

Choose what to measure

• Focus on particulate: track PM10, PM2.5 and, where possible, PM1 to understand airborne particulate trends in occupied spaces.
• Use indicative alarms: set site-specific thresholds that trigger responses (close a door, start an air scrubber, review cleaning).
• Data you can act on: prefer monitors with stable baselines and exportable logs; accuracy is most useful when it drives decisions.

Place sensors for meaningful data

• Breathing zone height: 1–1.5 m above floor.
• Avoid bias: not directly in front of diffusers, heaters or open windows.
• Cover transitions: position a unit near the door between production and offices to capture ingress events.
• Start with a short mapping survey to identify hotspots, then fix sensors in representative locations.

Build a simple response plan

• Tiered triggers: alert at threshold 1 (housekeeping check), threshold 2 (start portable air cleaner or pause dusty task), threshold 3 (supervisor review).
• Log actions: keep a weekly record of exceedances and what was done; trends matter more than one-off spikes.
• Share summaries with staff to reassure and to reinforce good habits.

Practical tips

• Calibrate or verify against a reference periodically.
• Protect devices from knocks and cleaning sprays.
• Combine with routine walkabouts; numbers plus eyes-on give the full picture.

One well-managed monitoring point at the interface between production and offices often prevents prolonged exposure. Use the data to tune controls, schedule cleaning, and justify small improvements that keep spaces consistently clean.