Repeated wood dust failures results in fine

An Essex-based company that makes windows and doors has been fined £4,000 after repeatedly failing to protect its workers from exposure to wood dust.

Timbercraft Windows & Doors Limited, which also manufactures conservatories, was visited by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on three occasions over a 12-year period.

Those visits to the company's workshop identified large build-ups of wood dust around machinery as well as other health and safety breaches. These included workers not being provided with suitable respiratory protective equipment (RPE).

Breathing in wood dust excessively can cause asthma and nasal cancer.

A subsequent HSE investigation found the company failed to adequately control and prevent its employee's exposure to wood dust in the following ways:

• inadequate local exhaust ventilation (LEV) and a failure to have its LEV thoroughly examined and tested within the preceding 14 months;
• failure to have employees face fit tested for their RPE;
• common dry sweeping of wood dust;
• using compressed air lines for clearing of wood dust from machines;
• using incorrect L class vacuums; and
• failure to have employees who were exposed to wood dust under health surveillance.

For each of the above failures the solutions are widely known in the woodworking industry:

• health surveillance should be undertaken for employees exposed to wood dust - a system of on-going health checks to detect ill-health effects such as occupational asthma at an early stage;
• LEV in woodworking should be subject to a thorough examination and test by a competent person, no less frequent than every 14 months - a detailed and systematic examination sufficient to make sure the LEV can continue to perform as intended by design and will contribute to the adequate control of exposure;
• adequate LEV will be dependent upon the process, however guidance sheets for control of wood dust at woodworking machines are available for free from the HSE website;
• face fit testing is required for tight fitting RPE to ensure that it fits the wearers face and does not leak, as this would increase the wearers exposure;
• wood dust should be cleared on a regular basis using a minimum of an M class vacuum - dry sweeping and use of compressed air lines should be used for clearing of wood dust as they create plumes of dust that can be inhaled once again.

Following the December 2022 inspection, three improvement notices were served relating to control of wood dust. A further improvement notice was served relating to arrangements for monitoring, guarding and other protection devices on machinery.

Each visit by HSE inspectors during the past 12 years had resulted in improvement notices being issued, along with other action taken. However, despite this, the company still failed to act, including to provide its workers with suitable RPE.

Timbercraft Windows & Doors Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) SI 2002/2677, was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £2,792 in costs.

HSE inspector Tom McQuade, said: "Just seeing the piles of wood dust lying around gave us an indication of how much workers would have been exposed".

"The risks from exposure to wood dust are well known and exposure can cause irreparable harm".

"The fine imposed should highlight to employers in the woodworking industry that the courts and HSE, take failure to control exposure to harmful substances, such as wood dust, extremely seriously".

"Businesses need to protect their employee’s respiratory health. And if they don’t, we will not hesitate to take appropriate action".

For more information on this subject, see:

• Wood dust;
• Protecting woodworkers' health.