Employee health and safety and energy efficiency are key factors affecting business today. Louise Harris, Zehnder brand manager, discusses the issue of dust and offers a solution.
Employee health and safety and energy efficiency are considered two of the key factors affecting businesses today. Both areas necessitate reasonable levels of investment from both a financial and also a personnel point of view. One small and inconspicuous, yet often significant contributor to both these issues is dust.

Airborne dust is everywhere and while not all dust particulate is dangerous its mere presence does need to be taken seriously. Whenever dust is inhaled within the workplace, workers are essentially at risk of occupational disease and every year overexposure to dust causes disease, disability and, in the worst cases, death.

Within the UK alone an estimated 3,000 people develop occupational asthma every year because they are exposed to dangerous substances at work and around half of asthma suffers find their asthma is aggravated by conditions at work.


Moreover it is not only the human cost which needs to be looked at. Dust in the workplace can also contaminate or reduce the quality of merchandise, be the cause of fire and explosion and increased cleaning costs.
Where machinery or other appliances are installed it can also cause obstructions reducing operating efficiencies and increasing the likelihood of costly downtime.

Obviously any work-related suffering of staff from poor air quality is unacceptable and the financial consequences caused by absenteeism, lack of productivity, increased cleaning, running and maintenance costs, not to mention potential litigation, can prove costly to company budgets.
Thankfully all these adverse consequences are easily preventable if the necessary action is taken and often solutions can be implemented at a minimal cost.

Dust generation

Dust particles are generated by a number of sources, both manmade and natural and can be deemed as either a nuisance or potentially harmful substance, depending on the circumstances. Work processes which generate dust can be industry specific, such as food processing where flour is used and manufacturing using powdered chemicals, or generic processes such as the constant movement of cartons and pallets and exhaust gases and other particulate from incoming and outgoing deliveries.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends the highest concentration of airborne particles (PM10) is 50µg/m³ (0.05mg/m³) during a 24-hour period. Actual levels in warehouses, factories and on shop floors are on average between 200-500µg/m³, therefore it is advisable for any company undertaking dusty processes to carry out initial assessments to establish whether people are at risk from dust exposure.

And while the guideline is in place to promote good practice, in visibly dusty environments many forward thinking companies are simply looking at air quality and addressing the issue of nuisance dust as part of their on-going commitment to improve working conditions for staff.

Comprehensive understanding

When measuring dust contamination levels, tests should be carried out over a week long or shift/production pattern period in order to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the airborne concentrations in a typical working week, and to help pinpoint whether the problem is occurring throughout the day or only at specific times.


Measurement is essential to ascertain the problem and the results will dictate which control measures are used to reduce particulate levels and ultimately protect the employees, the processes and the products.

Elimination and ventilation

High concentrations of dust can be removed from the air through filtration and Zehnder, a leading suppliers of indoor climate systems, is at the forefront of an innovative technology in this field. Eliminating airborne dust and creating a clean and healthy atmosphere for people and products, Zehnder Clean Air Solutions ensures a safe, comfortable environment for both staff and merchandise, helping to save money and improve working conditions.

Using the Flimmer filtration system, the Zehnder Clean Air Solutions system filters particles of dust out of air like a continuous vacuum cleaner. In contrast to conventional industrial systems, the Flimmer filter consists of thousands of electro-statically charged, fine polypropylene hairs that hold on to the dust.
This filtering technique provides a high level of dust and particulate removal and the large surface area prevents clogging, too frequent filter changes and pressure loss.

With low noise emission and low energy and operating costs Zehnder Clean Air Solutions are available in a range of mobile, ceiling and wall/shelf-mounted units ensuring a solution to fit any new or existing building.

Easy to install the units can be fitted while normal warehouse operations continue.

Designed to reduce the concentration of airborne particles by 60 per cent - 80 per cent cleaning costs can be reduced by up to 70 per cent and with employee exposure levels significantly lowered staffing costs can be reduced by up to 30 per cent, making Zehnder Clean Air Solutions an intelligent, efficient and economic alternative.