Occupational exposure to wood dust in the british woodworking industry in 1999/2000.

Exposure to inhalable wood dust and compliance with the British Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 1999 were assessed at a representative cross-section of the British woodworking industry. Median exposures ranged from 1.5 to 2.8 mg/m(3) across the selected industry groups, the lowest being in sawmilling and planing of wood. Overall, 27% of values exceeded the maximum exposure limit (MEL) at that time of 5 mg/m(3). These results showed that the percentage of exposures above the MEL was less than in a survey carried out 10 years earlier. A wide variation of exposures was identified at different machines and tasks. At least 90% at bandsawing and cross-cut sawing were <5 mg/m(3). In contrast, dust emission at circular sawing, sanding, cleaning and a miscellaneous group of activities was poorly controlled. Between 32 and 50% of results from these categories exceeded 5 mg/m(3). The lower exposures in sawmills were largely attributable to the low usage of sanders and a group of circular saws, to the high use of bandsaws and moulders and to coarser dust from undried timber. Compliance with the COSHH Regulations was inadequate. Companies that claimed to have some form of written COSHH assessment were generally no more effective at controlling exposure to dust than those without an assessment. Similarly the ability of premises that provided information, instruction and training on the risks to health from wood dust and on measures to prevent or control those risks was not generally greater than in those that did not. Maintenance of local exhaust ventilation systems emerged as essential for achieving good control. Companies that followed both the statutory 14-monthly thorough examination and testing schedule and a weekly check system were more successful in this respect than those that did not. In spite of this, local exhaust ventilation alone provided insufficient dust control at several woodworking activities.

Occupational exposure to inhalable wood dust in the member states of the European Union.

The aim of this study was to estimate occupational exposure to inhalable wood dust by country, industry, the level of exposure and type of wood dust in 25 member states of the European Union (EU-25) for the purposes of hazard control, exposure surveillance and assessment of health risks. National labour force statistics, a country questionnaire (in 15 member states, EU-15), a company survey (in Finland, France, Germany and Spain), exposure measurements (from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and expert judgements were used to generate preliminary estimates of exposure to different types of wood dust. The estimates were generated according to industrial class (six wood industries, four other sectors) and level of exposure (five classes). These estimates were reviewed and finalized by national experts from 15 member states. Crude estimates were generated also for 10 new member states (EU-10). The basic data and final estimates were included in the WOODEX database. In 2000-2003, about 3.6 million workers (2.0% of the employed EU-25 population) were occupationally exposed to inhalable wood dust. Of those, construction employed 1.2 million exposed workers (33%), mostly construction carpenters. The numbers of exposed workers were 700,000 (20%) in the furniture industry, 300,000 (9%) in the manufacture of builders' carpentry, 200,000 (5%) in sawmilling, 150,000 (4%) in forestry and <100,000 in other wood industries. In addition, there were 700,000 exposed workers (20%) in miscellaneous industries employing carpenters, joiners and other woodworkers. The numbers of exposed workers varied by country ranging from <3,000 in Luxembourg and Malta to 700,000 in Germany. The highest exposure levels were estimated to occur in the construction sector and furniture industry. Due to limited exposure data there was considerable uncertainty in the estimates concerning construction woodworkers. About 560,000 workers (16% of the exposed) may be exposed to a level exceeding 5 mg m(-3). Mixed exposure to more than one species of wood and dust from wooden boards was very common, but reliable data on exposure to different species of wood could not be retrieved. This kind of assessment procedure integrating measurement data, company data, country-specific data and expert judgement could also serve as one model for the assessment of other occupational exposures.