New warning on the UK's deadly dust standard

The UK's workplace dust standard should be tightened considerably to protect workers from serious diseases, a new academic paper has concluded, echoing a 2011 call from the TUC. The paper published in the July edition of the Annals of Occupational Hygiene warns that 'exposure to low-toxicity dusts, which have previously been viewed as 'nuisance dusts', can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] or other non-malignant respiratory disease.' The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that at least 4,000 workers die each year of work-related COPD, many the result of exposures to dust at work. The authors of the new paper, from universities in England, Scotland and the US, note that the current UK dust standard has remained unchanged for over 30 years, warning 'there is good evidence from epidemiology and toxicology studies that current dust exposures may still present a risk to workers and that for some of those who are affected, there are devastating health consequences.' They back a call by the TUC (Risks 521) and UK unions (Risks 522) for the occupational exposure limits (OELs) to be reduced to a quarter the current levels, a recommendation also supported by the Institution of Occupational Medicine and the German standards board. 'It would be prudent for health and safety professionals to take this information into account while giving advice,' the authors conclude. 'We urge regulators in Britain and elsewhere to move to develop new, safe OELs for poorly soluble low-toxicity dusts.'

• John W Cherrie, Lisa M Brosseau, Alastair Hay and Kenneth Donaldson. Low-toxicity dusts: Current exposure guidelines are not sufficiently protective, Annals of Occupational Hygiene, volume 57, issue 6, pages 685-691, 2013.
• Dust in the workplace. Guidance for Health and safety representatives, TUC, 2011.