What is Environmental Consultancy?
Environmental consultants advise on sustainability, including waste management, recycling, flood risk and the effects of climate change.
Environmental consultants can help create an environmental compliance plan (often required after a penalty or violation), train your employees on environmental regulations and requirements, and provide expert advice when environmental issues come up at in the work place.
When it comes to Environmental Consultancy you need to know your regulations so you know as a company how to be compliant. Public image is everything for businesses, it has been since business began. This is why it is so important that when you are in an industry that may compromise the environment you take the necessary steps to record and reduce your emissions.
Portable Gas Monitors are essential for environmental consultancy. Without Safety Monitoring Instrumentation the negative impact of processes when in an working environment would go unrecognised, this could put people at risk of unwanted chemical exposure, hearing loss and pollution.
Portable Gas Detection
In order to control exposure from construction dust and protect employees, the COSHH regulations advised that air sampling for dust should be carried out on a regular basis. Dust sampling is carried out through the use of Portable Gas Monitors , this data can then be recorded and assessed.
The data from this monitoring can be tailored to any shift length and because it is portable you will be able to give a true measure of individual exposure as they move freely around the site.
Creating your Dust Exposure Control Plan
Prepare
Before beginning work, try and find ways of reducing the amount of dust you create:
Use the correct size of building materials (less cutting)
Use less powerful tools.
Use alternative abrasives (silica free abrasives)
Control
Once the risk of construction dust has been reduced, the following methods can be used to control the remaining dust from the environment / workplace:
Water is often used to dampen dust clouds.
Enclose work tops to help stop any dust escaping.
Limit the number of people near the work space and rotate those doing the tasks regularly.
On-tool extraction or general mechanical ventilation can be used to remove dust as it is being produced.
Protect
Respiratory Protection Equipment (RPE) is often provided as an addition and not an alternative to the reduction and control of construction dust. Respiratory protective equipment is the last line of protection, so you will need to consider the following:
Is it suitable for your type of work / environment? Masks can be uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Powered RPE can help to minimise this.
Does its fit you correctly? Face fit testing is required to guarantee appropriate protection and tight fitting mask users must be clean shaven.
Is it adequate for the amount and type of dust? All respiratory protective equipment has an ‘Assigned Protection Factor’ (APF) which outlines how much protection it provides the wearer. The general level for construction dust is set at an APF of 20, which means the wearer will only breathe in one twentieth of the amount of dust in the air.
Educate
Making sure staff are educated in good practise and that the controls of the Exposure Control Plan are being complied with and understood is essential, consider the following:
Ensure workers know about all dust risks and how their health can be effected.
All staff should be able to use and maintain all PPE and RPE.
Attend training and refresher courses in regards to Health and Exposure in a occupational setting
Educate and exercise all dust controls implemented in the Exposure Control Plan.
Record and Review
Once you have made sure all of the right controls are in place, you will need to double check that they are all working correctly:
Make sure procedures are in place to ensure work is done in the correct way.
Check that your controls are effectively carrying out COSHH Air Monitoring with the use of Portable Gas Monitors.
Ensure all equipment is maintained, instructions within maintenance manuals are followed and check for signs of damage on a regular basis.
Make sure all non disposable RPE are clean and maintained. Change RPE filters and replace old disposable masks as recommended.
Examinations of any on tool or Local exhaust ventilation extraction system should be tested at least every 14 months.
An unmaintained instrument or system is worse than no instrument or system- and that's the truth!!
Lack of due diligence or misinformation could lead to detectors being incorrectly installed or positioned on site, this could lead to unrecognised high-risk areas, where detectors could be used. In addition the wrong type of detection in high risk areas could result in incorrect data logging or a complete failure to indicate toxic exposure.
Poor maintenance is another factor when considering detection accuracy and performance of Fixed Gas Detection systems and Portable Gas Monitors.
Without adequate maintenance of Safety Monitoring Instrumentation you could rely on data that is incorrect. This can be devestating when trying to survey exposure for a specific site.
For example
An initial assessment could be inaccurate due to using a Fixed Gas Detection system and/or Portable Gas Monitors that has not been recently serviced or calibrated.
You would then use the data from the Fixed Gas Detection system and/or Portable Gas Monitors to implement controls to reduce exposure.
If the Safety Monitoring Instrumentation is providing inaccurate data due to lack of maintenance then the Exposure Control Plan will be ineffective and could even increase the risk to individuals. This is because individuals may believe they are effectively monitoring the atmosphere and become reliant on inaccurate data.
"I think I may need Safety Instrumentation Monitoring, but I don’t know anything about it!"
You don’t need to understand Safety Instrumentation Monitoring to be safe at work! If you are unsure whether you need a monitor, please call one of the team on the below number.
Call The Team: 01489 326031
You cannot create the need for Safety Instrumentation, the need is either there or isn’t – that why the best way to make sure you are keeping yourself and your own team as safe as possible is to give one of our experienced team members a call! You can speak to us about your site and our team will be able to advise you based off extensive working knowledge, existing and pre-existing clients/projects and industry specific hazards. Our team remain informed in the world of Safety Instrumentation so that we can provide up to date advice in line with best practices. This means whenever you speak to our team you know you are receiving updated support from people who care.
"Our work should enrich our lives, not cost them" - Alex Graft (Managing Director)