SPA 1101 - METABO TIP! "A very popular dust and chip extractor. Add the fine filter as an accessory to help protect you from potentially harmful dust debris. Particularly important for when working with mainly hard woods or MDF type materials."
WOOD DUST - Why is it important to have a dust extractor?
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Wood dust can cause asthma. Carpenters and joiners are 4 times more likely to get asthma compared with the UK working population.
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Hardwood and man made board dust can cause cancer - particularly of the nose.
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Both hardwood and softwood dusts have a Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) of 5mg/m3 which must not be exceeded. WEL's are limits on concentrations of dust in the air, averaged over 8 hours. But beacause wood dust is an asthmagen, exposure must be reduced as low as is reasonably practicable.
How to control Dust
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Provide dust extraction at woodworking machines to remove dust before it can get breathed in.
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Keep the extraction and collection system maintained to make sure it continues to work effiently.
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It is a legal requirement to have dust extraction equipment by a competent person at least every 14 months. (Your insurers or LEV supplier may have competent persons who can do this for you).
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Use a vacuum system to clear up wood dust - either a free standing vacuum cleaner or preferably a vacuum pipe attached to your extraction system. Using fine filters/twin filter systems with dust bags can help considerably.
For more information please visit: www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/dust.htm
www.hse.gov.uk/drp/index.htm
