Domestic and light commercial shop vacs (the classic “Henry” type) are not designed for construction dust control. They often lack the filtration class, sealing, duty cycle, and filter-cleaning needed to manage fine, hazardous dusts like respirable crystalline silica (RCS) or hardwood dust.

What goes wrong in practice

• Insufficient filtration: general vacs can pass fine PM2.5/PM1 back into the air. For silica and similar risks, M-Class is the minimum, and H-Class with HEPA H14 is appropriate where respirable, carcinogenic, or very fine dusts are present.
• Rapid clogging: small filters blind quickly during grinding or sanding, collapsing airflow under load.
• Poor sealing: lids, bags, and ports may leak when disturbed, spreading contamination during change-out.
• No auto filter-clean: airflow decays through the shift, so tools outpace extraction and dust escapes.
• Not built for continuous duty: motors overheat and failures create unplanned downtime.

Compliance and liability

Under COSHH you must prevent or adequately control exposure. Using a non-classified vacuum on high-risk dusts is unlikely to demonstrate control and can breach risk assessments. It also undermines housekeeping by redistributing the very dust you are trying to remove.

What to use instead

• Choose an industrial extractor with the correct dust class for your materials, sealed waste handling, antistatic hoses, and automatic filter cleaning.
• Pair with source capture (tool shrouds, water suppression) and, where needed, air scrubbers to handle residual airborne particulate.
• Verify performance with simple capture checks and, for higher-risk tasks, a particulate monitor.

Many contractors standardise on M-Class for silica and step up to H-Class and H14 where risks demand; for example, MAXVAC H-Class vacuums with sealed disposal options are designed for construction dust control rather than domestic cleaning.

Practical takeaways

• Don’t use domestic/shop vacs for construction dust; they are not M/H-Class.
• Select M-Class as a baseline for silica and wood; use H-Class/H14 where risk is higher.
• Maintain airflow under load with auto-clean and pre-separation.
• Seal waste at source and avoid leakage during change-out.

Use equipment built for the hazard and you will control exposure, reduce rework, and keep sites cleaner with less effort.