Protecting the workforce from harmful airborne particles Extended exposure to airborne pollutant gases and particles can lead to adverse health effects. New standardised methods will help manufacturers design better machines producing fewer emissions of these harmful substances. Industrial Technologies © PhotoDisc Worker safety has become an increasingly important issue since the dawn of the Industrial Age. The advent of machinery has helped increase production while reducing costs, however, care must be taken to ensure that this same machinery does not compromise the health of the workers operating it. Machinery that cuts, shapes, grinds, mixes and generally processes raw materials often generate emissions of both gases and particles. These emissions can be removed from the air by local ventilations systems, which are expensive to install and maintain. They can also be removed by pollution control systems, which are designed to reduce emissions at the source. The European Union has developed standardised procedures for measuring the gaseous and particulate emissions from industrial machinery. These procedures allow both manufacturer and consumer to determine the effectiveness of new designs on reducing emissions. A number of national institutes and universities across Europe collaborated to improve the current protocol (EN 1093) addressing this issue. Progress was achieved through the use of both test benches in laboratories and real-world measurements of actual machines. The experiments identified the critical factors, which include transport velocity and distance, particle size distribution and local mixing processes. Repeatability and intercomparison of the results were of acceptable error levels. The results of this work, supported by the Standards, Measurements and Testing Programme, were applied to revise the existing European protocol. Continued research effort is necessary, particularly on the tracer gas methodology. Adoption of this and other protocols by the Member States of the European Union will help promote occupational safety standards and improve working conditions for Europeans.
