Wood dust in the workplace – How Nordfab Ducting can help you meet HSE regulations

hands rubbing sawdust

Wood dust in the workplace can contribute to severe health problems such as asthma, pulmonary disease, or cancers. Minimising the amount of dust in the environment can reduce the risk of these issues significantly.

What are the guidelines

The HSE has set out guidelines for acceptable levels of dust in the workplace:

- Hardwood should be no more than 3mg/m3 in an 8-hour average period
- Softwood should be no more than 5mg/m3, in the same time period.

Having reliable LEV (local exhaust ventilation) in place is key to removing high volumes of wood dust away from the work area. However, LEV is reliant on the effectiveness of the sum of its parts. Adding an inefficient ducting system into your extraction creates weaknesses that even the most efficient extraction unit will struggle to overcome.

Seamless Vs spiral duct

By using a seamless laser welding process, we eliminate any internal obstructions to the airflow and dust. Due to its construction process, the internals of spiral type ducting contain seams, providing an obstruction to dust, that could cause harmful blockages. Similarly, this duct design is prone to leakages, further reducing efficiency and preventing the attached LEV from meeting HSE guidelines.

Find out more

For further information on how Nordfab Ducting can benefit your dust extraction system, click here to see examples of successful applications of our ducting in woodworking environments.


For information on how we or one of our partners could help you design your ducting installation, please contact us.

Get in touch

+44 (0) 1132 739 400 - [email protected]

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