Imagine that you were shaving down or grinding a flat surface. There would probably be little filings going everywhere. While they’d simply be a nuisance at first, these little dust particles could quickly turn into a serious hazard. That’s where dust controllers come into play. Plant managers need to make sure they have a sufficient number to handle whatever sort of business operation their materials processing facilities tackle.
As these three examples show, things could get quite dirty in a very short period of time otherwise.
1. Health Reasons
During the average day, your staffers could breathe around 2,000 gallons of air on average, and much of this air consumption happens when they are working at a jobsite. If there’s a significant amount of dust in that air, then you’re putting your workers at risk. Poor dust management can also lead to your staffers experiencing shortness of breath and other problems, which make them less effective on the job. Over time, they could potentially develop silicosis. That’s a very dangerous condition, and you could potentially be liable for damages if anyone proved your organization was at fault. Proper use of dust controllers will go a long way toward alleviating all of these problems and providing an overall healthier workplace for everyone involved.
2. Fire Risk
Businesses that compete in the raw materials processing space need the right tools to cut down on their potential fire risk. They should first start by getting the right kind of heavy machinery for the job at hand. Once they’ve gone over their entire equipment roster, they’ll next want to look into dust control because even relatively light amounts of particulate matter could potentially double the overall risk of a fire on a site.
Assume you were flattening sheets of plywood or raw cuts of stone. All of the little bits that fly off of the workpieces are at least flammable to a degree. Some misplaced sparks could be enough to start a conflagration. Considering all of the attention paid to wildfires in the last few years, it’s a good idea to do everything you can to prevent any industrial accidents that could possibly lead to them. Depending on local regulatory conditions, you may have to do so in order to meet these requirements as well.
3. Equipment Stability
Dust particles are smaller than human hairs, so they can fit into almost any opening no matter how small. The next time you do a complete dust control assessment you’ll want to check just how much debris has worked its way into the machines your organization uses the most. There’s a good chance that the ones closest to your primary dust sources are packed full of material even if you didn’t realize it. One of the big problems with this is that the dust in question will continue to build up over such a long period of time that it ultimately leads to the piece of equipment failing prematurely.
Investing in some dust control gear will help to prevent this and other maladies that could prove costly in the long run.
