Dust from your business activities can harm human health and the environment. It’s important to find ways to control, reduce or eliminate dust from your business.
Many different sources and activities generate dust, including:
- agricultural activities, such as ploughing and soil tilling
- cement handling and batching
- demolition of buildings, sheds, towers, chimney stacks, silos or storage tanks
- drilling and blasting
- excavating, handling or transferring materials
- glass reprocessing
- grinding and welding
- landscaping
- mining and quarrying
- moving vehicles on unsealed roads and tracks
- woodworking.
Stockpiles also generate dust – for example, from excavated soils and minerals, or demolition and waste materials. Learn about Managing stockpiles.
Construction industry activities can generate high levels of dust – for example, during:
- demolition works
- site preparation
- site clean-up and dismantling
- truck and vehicle movement and operation.
Other industries that need to manage dust include:
Manage risks from dust
The general environmental duty requires you to eliminate or reduce risk to human health and the environment from your pollution and waste.
Follow a risk management process to identify hazards, assess risk, and implement and monitor controls.
Control dust
The controls you put in place depend on your business activities and the kind of dust they produce.
Preventing dust is the best approach to reduce risk. If you cannot prevent it, minimise and manage dust.
Controls to reduce dust include:
- wind barriers
- dust suppression measures
- regular maintenance of vehicles and equipment.
Monitor your dust on and off site by conducting:
- visual inspections
- dust deposition and flux monitoring
- real-time PM10 continuous monitoring.
Assess and minimise air pollution from your business provides guidance on dust monitoring. This helps with dust controls.
Controls to manage existing dust include:
- dust extractors
- dust screens.
You can use a treatment train(opens in a new window) to combine more than one control to reduce the risk of harm from water erosion, sediment and dust.
Controls must be fit for purpose. Consider how you will use them and how effective they will be in your business. Make sure you install and maintain controls properly.
You can use other controls not listed here. You must show us you've eliminated or reduced the risk of harm as far as reasonably practicable.
You may need advice from a qualified consultant, such as an environmental consultant.
Manage dust complaints
To respond to dust complaints about your business:
- identify the source of the dust
- fix the cause of the dust
- keep people who made the complaint informed where you can.
Keep a record of the complaint details to help you identify the cause and improve your controls. Records can include:
- the name, address and contact number of the person who made the complaint
- wind direction and speed
- temperature
- time of day
- what you were doing at the time
- what you’ve done to fix the problem.
Report dust incidents
If your business causes an incident that harms or threatens to harm human health or the environment, you must report it as soon as you become aware of it. This includes an incident that causes nuisance dust.
If you hold a permission, you must notify us immediately if you breach any condition of your permission. This includes notifying us about any incident that harms or threatens to harm human health or the environment.
Examples: how to manage dust in the workplace
These examples show how to apply a risk management process to manage dust. Use them as a guide only. Your business may need more or different controls, depending on your site. You may need advice from a qualified consultant to develop a risk management process for your business.
Dust on a mining site
Samson is an environmental site manager at a mining company. The worksite is often dry and exposed, so dust is a common hazard. Samson knows dust can affect health and impact the surrounding area's views, vegetation and land uses.
Know the source of dust
Samson identifies the dust comes from:
- clearing vegetation
- drilling and blasting
- equipment like crushers and conveyors
- stockpiling soil and rock
- vehicles travelling on unsealed roads.
Control and manage dust
To control dust, Samson makes sure:
- a buffer zone separates dust-generating activities from neighbouring land
- onsite roads near sensitive areas – for example, those with protected plants – are sealed and treated with clean water
- equipment that makes dust is kept in buildings fitted with extraction fans.
The site’s environmental management plan also contains dust controls. Samson's staff must:
- restore disturbed areas
- dampen blast areas before they blast
- dampen unsealed roads
- cover or wet loads when they move materials.
Dust-prone roads also have enforced speed limits.
Monitor and review controls
On a regular basis, Samson:
- keeps a log of controls and equipment
- maintains equipment to make sure it’s working well
- monitors dust levels near sensitive areas
- identifies other present or potential dust sources.
Samson monitors weather conditions so that he can change the site's controls or activities when conditions change – for example, when it's dry and windy. He adjusts the dust controls depending on their effectiveness and if other onsite conditions change.
Samson records dust complaints and uses them to inform decisions about controls and activities.
Samson is confident the company is managing risks associated with dust.
Dust on a construction site
Henry is a site manager for a construction company. Before he starts a job, Henry thinks about how activities might generate dust. He also considers how dust could affect nearby people, stormwater drains and waterways. He knows dust can cause breathing issues for people and poor air and water quality.
Know the source of dust
Henry identifies that dust comes from:
- demolition
- earthworks
- construction
- transport of dirt from vehicles.
He’s also aware that dust can vary from day to day. It depends on the type, frequency and duration of operations, and weather conditions.
Control and manage dust
Henry identifies controls to eliminate or reduce the impact of dust from his company's activities. He then knows which operational activities need controls.
Henry puts controls in place to prevent or mitigate potential impacts, including:
- installing windbreaks
- locating machinery and dusty activities away from site boundaries, neighbours, stormwater drains and waterways
- using water carts and on-tool dust extractors to suppress dust.
Henry also monitors the weather. When conditions are hot, dry and windy, he adjusts the site’s work schedule to minimise wind-blown dust.
Monitor and review controls
Henry carries out daily inspections and maintenance to check that control measures are working. If they're not, he replaces controls or puts in place extra controls to eliminate or minimise impacts.
Henry also:
- checks and maintains equipment to make sure it's working well
- records all his inspections and maintenance work
- uses community feedback to help measure the effectiveness of controls
- keeps a log of complaints.
With these processes in place, Henry is sure his company is managing dust risks effectively.
Crystalline silica dust
Silica is a mineral found in most rocks and soils. Crystalline silica dust can be generated through construction and quarrying tasks. It can be harmful when breathed in. Visit the WorkSafe Victoria website for information about:
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