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Keeping staff safe from inhalable and respirable dust

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Dust monitoring in fracture clinicsIf you manage a fracture clinic plaster room or orthotics laboratory, it is important to ensure that your staff are protected against the risks of inhalable and respirable dust.

This was underlined again only this month in an HSE eBulletin, which revealed that the Health and Safety Executive had recently fined a stone worktop manufacturer £60,000 and a wood supplier £40,000 for failing to protect workers from harmful dust exposure.

Plaster of Paris dust generated in plaster rooms and orthotics laboratories can lead to short-term and long-term respiratory problems.

So, it is vital that employers provide proper ventilation systems, appropriate respiratory protection, and carry out regular health surveillance to protect their workers.

Inhalable and respirable dust monitoring

We carry out workplace exposure monitoring in fracture clinic plaster rooms and orthotics laboratories to measure staff exposure to total inhalable and respirable dust.

Levels of these dusts need to be measured in accordance with the methods outlined in the HSE Publications MDHS 14/3.

Monitoring for workplace exposure to respirable and inhalable dust.To ensure that this is done, we equip each member of staff with personal sampling pumps and monitor their exposure to dust during a normal working period.

We then provide you with a report which details the staff exposure levels and outlines whether there are any causes for concern.

We recommend that this inhalable and respirable dust monitoring procedure should be carried out every 12 months to ensure continued compliance with Regulation 10 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations 2002 (as amended).

To discuss our inhalable and respirable dust monitoring service or get a quote, please call us on 0333 015 4345 or email info@cairntechnology.com

What about staff exposure to Diisocyanates?

We can also help measure your staff’s exposure for Diisocyanates through our Biological Sampling service.

Diisocyanates are now used more frequently in fracture clinics because of the move away from Plaster of Paris towards synthetic products. They are also being used more widely in prosthetic laboratories where the use of resins is becoming more commonplace.

They are highly reactive substances which are potent respiratory and skin sensitizers and a common cause of asthma and allergic contact dermatitis.

The increase in Diisocyanate usage, along with the British Orthopaedic Association’s adoption of worker training guidance from the EU, has highlighted the importance of monitoring staff exposure.​

We recommend that sampling should be carried out every 12 months to ensure continued compliance with Regulation 10 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations 2002 (as amended).

If you are unsure whether or not your department is using products that contain Diisocyanates, our team can establish this on your behalf from the product material data sheets.

To discuss our Diisocyanate biological sampling service or get a quote, please call us on 0333 015 4345 or email us at info@cairntechnology.com

 

 

 

Diisocyanates in the Healthcare Setting

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As healthcare settings are moving away from plaster of Paris products to synthetic products there is an increased risk to staff exposure to diisocyanates, which are present in the resins and other products used within departments such as fracture clinics and prosthetic laboratories.

The British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) has adopted guidance from the European Union which introduced mandatory training for workers from August 2023.

The BOA Casting Sub Committee recommends that all healthcare professional who use synthetic casting and splinting materials contact their casting material suppliers in order to undertake product safety and education training to comply with UK REACH regulations.[1]

Further to training, the law requires you to adequately control exposure to materials in the workplace that cause ill health. This is the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH).

The DFG BAT Biological Tolerance Value for HDI is 15µg/g (approx. 15µmol/mol creatinine) and for MDI is 10µg/L (approx. 4µmol/mol creatinine). [2]

Monitoring for Diisocyanates

A case study carried out in in 19 French polyurethane industries has shown that total MDA in post-shift urine samples is a reliable biomarker to assess occupational exposure to methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in various industrial applications. [3]

The Health and Safety Executive HSE and British Occupation Hygiene Society BOHS have each produced guidance on biological monitoring.

This is designed to ensure that even with adequate training and control measures in place, staff are not exposed to excessive levels of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI).

Biological monitoring for chemicals helps prevent unacceptable health risks by providing information on the control of occupational exposure.

It can give an indication of absorption by all routes of exposure. Consequently, it is often used to complement personal air monitoring (which measures the concentration of a chemical in the air in a person’s breathing zone).

Therefore biological monitoring may be particularly useful for those chemicals which are easily absorbed through the skin or taken in by ingestion, or where exposure is controlled by personal protective equipment. [4]

Cairn Technology Monitoring

Cairn Technology has adopted biological monitoring to assist our healthcare customers in assuring that they comply with COSHH as set out above.

If you require further information on how we can assist you please do not hesitate to contact us at info@cairntechnology.com or call one of the team on 0333 015 4345 who will be happy to help.

References:
(1) British Orthopaedic Association
(2) Research and guidance from HSE, Biological Monitoring Guidance Values.
(3) A. Robert, P. Ducos, +1 author P. Marsan. Published in International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 28 February 2007.
(4) HSG167 (Second edition, published 1997)