During every hour of every day, you are surrounded by dust. Worksites, roads, tunnels, offices, schools, hospitals – harmful dust can be everywhere. Dust has always been a problem especially in the mining, quarrying, extractive, and commercial industries. Whether the dust is coming from transfer points, roads, mining, quarrying, or manufacturing processes it is harmful and a real health hazard for all workers. The main culprit here is silica, the respirable crystalline silica (RCS) released during grinding, crushing, sawing, and drilling of silica containing materials can permanently damage the lung tissue. RCS can cause a range of serious respiratory conditions such as silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney disease, and lung cancer. Although work uniforms are designed for staff’s health and protection, if not cleaned effectively can cause harm.
In the UK, according to Health and Safety Executive data, lung cancer associated with exposure to RCS causes around 600 deaths per year with 450 of these occurring from exposures in the construction sector. One aspect of dust control that is often overlooked is the staff’s dusty clothes. Work uniforms are designed for staff’s health and protection but if they are not cleaned effectively, they can harm workers instead. Research has shown that, once clothes become contaminated, they are a continual dust source until cleaned. They create a 10-fold increase in staff dust exposure. In addition, dust can be transferred to clean areas such as offices, personnel vehicles and homes thus extending the risk of exposure to others. The commonly used vacuum or compressed air hose cleaning methods are risky, slow, ineffective, and often simply relocates dust rather than removing it. Mideco, an Australian-owned engineering company came up with a solution for this problem by launching their star product – the Bat Booth®. Mideco’s Bat Booth® is a personnel dust extraction device which uses the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) design that can remove up to 80% dust in 10 seconds using only compressed air. The dust is not just blown off but captured and contained with the help of powerful filters which are effective against even the smallest dust particles. The Bat Booth® Standard is the basic model which uses simple but effective technology to get rid of dust that has accumulated on the person’s clothing in 10 seconds. It is equipped with powerful HEPA filters which comply with the latest international standard and are currently the most efficient filters commercially available. One of the most valuable Bat Booth® features is that it can be used frequently throughout the day without causing delay to work processes. This is due to the simplicity of installation and use as the unit arrives fully assembled, which means it is operational almost immediately. The Bat Booth® can be installed at any site, can be inside a building or even out in the open air. On the back of the success of our Bat Booth® Standard, Mideco launched the Bat Booth® Premium which combines simple de-dusting with body temperature checking, smart integrated technology, and real-time reporting. A smarter, sleek, simple, and effective variation of Bat Booth® Standard is the Bath Booth® Premium. It has a medically calibrated infra-red sensor to measure the person’s body temperature which can detect early signs of heat stress, a control panel inside the booth which changes colour and displays instructions based on the temperature; all in less than half a second.
Holcim (Australia) Pty Ltd was one of the first clients to install Bat Booth® at their quarries. The LafargeHolcim subsidiary has been a leading supplier of aggregates, ready-mix concrete, and concrete pipe products in Australia since 1901. The company is committed to occupational health and safety with one of its goals being ‘zero harm’ to staff health. Shortly after the product’s launch, Holcim requested and installed Bat Booth® units at the Lynwood (New South Wales), Petrie (Queensland) quarry and Cooma (Australian Capital Territories) quarries. The work at quarries is always associated with a high rate of dust emissions and staff health could be compromised without effective dust control measures. Bat Booth® units play a major role in minimising overall dust exposure. As they are easy to operate, staff can use them multiple times per day, not only at the end of a shift. Occupational dust diseases continue to dominate the health and safety agenda around the world. Effective and innovative dust control solutions that help reduce staff overall exposure without high financial cost can make a major difference in reducing the sad statistics of work-related illnesses.
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