Member Article

Clean air means more than 'smoke free'

With Business Link

Sunday’s smoking ban introduction is a major move to providing a healthier environment for us all but many people will still not be able to enjoy clean air in their workplace. This is due, more often than not, to the nature of the business. Dust or fumes are bi-products of many activities. Manufacturing and agricultural processes are obvious but it’s important to remember that office and shop-based workers can also be affected.

Prolonged exposure to dust or fumes can cause allergic reactions and serious illnesses, ranging from asthma to cancer. Therefore, you have a legal duty to protect the health and safety of your employees and anyone else affected by your business including customers and the public. You must ensure they’re not exposed to unhealthy levels of dust or fumes which could put their health at risk and, to do this, every business must monitor the levels that anyone inside or outside its premises is exposed to and ensure that adequate ventilation systems are in place and well-maintained.

A guide on the Business Link North East website will take you through your obligations to protect employees, customers and members of the public from inhaling dust and fumes at levels that could harm health. Fumes can include vapours, gases, smoke and odours. Dust is defined as dry particles present in the air.

Your employees may be exposed to high levels of these if they’re involved in certain factory-based work, farming, laboratory work, construction, decorating, or mechanical work. But even if your business doesn’t fit into one of these categories, don’t assume your activities don’t pose a risk. Chemicals used in common office equipment can be hazardous - particularly when combined with long-term exposure and poor ventilation – while workers in businesses such as hairdressers, vehicle repair businesses and bakeries are also at particular risk from the illnesses and allergic reactions to dust and fumes.

The Business Link website carries advice on how to check and control the levels and ventilate your workplace. Cleaner air will benefit your business in a number of ways. For instance:

• less risk of machinery being clogged or damaged by dust, better surface finish on products that involve glossing, painting or gluing and fewer days taken off sick by employees
• Possibility of lower insurance premiums through carrying out risk assessments
• Better staff and customer relationships

It’s far better to identify and protect against risks than to have staff off sick, or to face compensation claims from people who say their health has been damaged as a result of breathing dust and fumes. Failure to deal with the situation could also lead to prosecution as the result of a proven statutory nuisance complaint and therefore damage to your business’s reputation.

For Business Link services in your local area, call 0845 600 9006 or visit the website www.businesslinknortheast.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .