In a builders merchant environment, wood dust is an everyday risk that can lead to long-term health problems. In addition to triggering persistent skin, eye, and throat irritations, wood dust is a primary contributor to life-threatening medical conditions, including asthma, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Most often, wood dust is inhaled through seemingly harmless daily tasks such as sawing, sanding, and dry sweeping. Over time, fine airborne particles containing toxic chemicals and preservatives can enter the lungs, resulting in serious health implications. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 12,000 lung disease deaths annually are linked to historical exposure at work.

Protecting your workers requires a multi-level approach – from understanding exposure limits and implementing proactive prevention measures to introducing regular lung health screening.

This article outlines critical site controls for your builders merchant, alongside helpful surveillance measures to track and tackle emerging health risks.

Workplace exposure limits (WELs): The basics

In the UK, workplace exposure limits for wood dust are set by the Health and Safety Executive. They outline the maximum concentration of a hazardous airborne substance that most people can be exposed to without suffering health issues. This includes exposure to harmful particles created by:

Cutting or sawing
Sanding
Routing
Changing dust bags
Dry sweeping

Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 2002 (COSHH) Regulations, it’s your duty to safeguard staff from exposure to hazardous substances so far as reasonably practicable. That means knowing the WELs for the materials used in your branches and taking steps to mitigate their risks.

It’s important to note that not all WELs are the same. This is because hardwoods, like oak and beech, have a higher potential to cause cancer. Softwoods, such as pine, have a lower potential to cause cancer. By knowing the WELs, we can understand if our control measures (e.g. ventilation) are working:

Hardwood: 3mg/m3
Softwood: 5mg/m3

According to COSHH rules, if wood dusts are mixed together, you must not exceed the lower WEL.

Assess the risk in your builders merchant

To protect your team, begin with a thorough risk assessment to identify sources of wood dust and evaluate their exposure hazards. An effective risk assessment should:

Measure the concentration of dust in the air across different locations in your branch and during various tasks and processes, such as sawing or sweeping.
Compare the measured concentrations to the HSE’s published WELs for each material. These limits typically specify the maximum allowable concentration over a particular time period, such as an 8-hour work shift.
Consider how long and how often your workers are exposed. Even if your concentrations are tracking below the published WEL, prolonged inhalation could lead to health concerns.

Adopt a ‘belt and braces’ approach ‍

Armed with a clear picture of exposure risks in your branches, you can assess and improve your current safety controls. Aim to tackle hazards from all angles, including comprehensive staff training, adequate ventilation, and suitable personal protective equipment (PPE):

Train workers to recognise and report the early signs of wood dust exposure. These include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, headaches, allergic reactions, and eye, throat, and skin irritation.
Ban dry sweeping within a mill or machining area.
Use a high-powered dust lamp to pinpoint particularly hazardous areas. This can identify elevated risks during certain tasks (such as sweeping or cutting) and potentially remove the need for air monitoring.
Change dust bags when they reach two-thirds full to prevent spills and excess dust. On a related note, full dust bags can negatively draw and block ductwork and increase the odds of manual handling injuries.
Install local exhaust ventilation (LEV). This is widely accepted as your strongest defence against airborne particulate dusts.
Keep your LEV system in peak condition. After installation by a qualified professional, your system should be thoroughly examined every 14 months. Following your inspection, ensure you action the recommendations outlined in the auditor’s report.
Provide HEPA filter or M Class vacuums to remove excess wood dust in areas that LEV extensions can’t reach.
Wear appropriate PPE, such as FFP3 masks and gloves, when changing dust bags.
Use respiratory protective equipment (RPE) in addition to LEV when sanding.
Provide face fit testing as part of your risk assessment when FFP3 masks are required.

Step up safety with ongoing health surveillance

Routine health surveillance helps you take a systematic approach to worker wellbeing. The use of questionnaires can help you to establish a ‘baseline’ for new and existing employees. When it comes to wood dust exposure, air monitoring and spirometry (lung function testing) are key priorities, helping you detect early signs of respiratory issues and other health problems.

Spirometry

Spirometry is a lung function test used to diagnose and monitor respiratory conditions, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other lung conditions.

Spirometry helps you track declining lung function over time, detecting wood dust-related health issues before they become severe.
It also provides a before-and-after assessment of your protective measures.
Baseline testing establishes existing lung function levels across your workforce.
Afterwards, periodic testing monitors changes and highlights possible health concerns.
Ad hoc spirometry testing should be carried out following a known increase in wood dust exposure, due to changes in processes, tasks, materials, or working patterns.

Learn more in our dedicated Spirometry blog.

Air monitoring

Air monitoring uses air samplers and dust monitors to measure the concentration of wood dust particles in your workplace. It helps you remain within safe limits, identify risk areas, and assess how well your safety controls work. Air monitoring is also a valuable compliance tool, providing critical documentation and reporting for HSE inspections.

Your initial assessment should identify baseline wood dust levels in various zones of your site. Following that, regular monitoring on a monthly or quarterly basis will track fluctuations over time.
Enhance your monitoring programme when using new processes or equipment.
Regularly analyse monitoring results to pinpoint risks, red flags, and improvement areas.
Real-time monitoring is also available, providing ongoing measurement of exposure risks.

Get support from your Opus consultant

At Opus Safety, we’ve provided tailored health surveillance programmes across a range of industries. If you have concerns about wood dust exposure in your builders merchant, talk to the team.

We’re waiting to help on 0330 043 4015 and hello@opus-safety.co.uk.