By workplace & process
Hardwood dust is a Group 1 carcinogen with a decades-long latency. That is precisely why extraction cannot be occasional - it has to be reliable, and reliability has to be proven.
The short answer
Hardwood dust is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 carcinogen - carcinogenic to humans - with a well-established link to cancer of the nose and sinuses. The disease can take decades to appear after exposure, which changes how the risk has to be managed: you cannot wait for symptoms to tell you the control has been failing, because by the time they show, the exposure that caused them is long past. That is what turns reliable, tested extraction from good practice into a genuine duty.
The detail
For a hazard that kills slowly and silently, control that works most of the time is not control. A capture hood that has drifted out of position, a duct quietly losing airflow to a partial blockage, or a dust collector that has not been maintained can all leave respirable dust in the breathing zone while the workshop looks and sounds normal. The finest dust - from sanding and routing - is exactly the fraction that reaches deep into the airway, and exactly the fraction that a weakened system fails to capture.
Because wood dust is a carcinogen and a sensitiser, the law requires exposure to be reduced as low as reasonably practicable, not simply held under the exposure limit. That standard cannot be met by respiratory protection alone; the HSE's own prosecution pattern shows that defending on masks without working, verified extraction consistently fails. The engineering control has to be doing the work, day in and day out - which means its performance has to be checked, not assumed.
What it means for you
A thorough examination and test is what converts an assumption of control into evidence of it. It measures whether each machine's extraction still captures at source, whether the ducts carry dust at the transport velocity needed to stop it settling, and whether the fan, filters and collector are performing to the commissioning benchmark - at least every fourteen months, with weekly user checks in between.
There is a further reason to take this seriously. If a worker is later diagnosed with an occupational cancer linked to their work, that disease is reportable to the HSE under RIDDOR, and the exposure history - including whether extraction was maintained and tested - becomes part of the picture. Reliable, evidenced extraction is both the protection for the worker and the demonstration that the duty was met.
The service behind the guide
We test woodworking LEV so its capture and airflow are demonstrated against the benchmark, giving you reliable control and the evidence that it is reliable.
Questions
The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies hardwood dust as a Group 1 carcinogen, with a well-established link to cancer of the nose and sinuses. The disease can take decades to develop after exposure.
Because you cannot wait for symptoms to reveal that control has been failing - by the time they appear, the exposure is long past. Control has to be reliable and verified in advance, not judged after the fact.
No. The law requires exposure to a carcinogen to be reduced as low as reasonably practicable, which cannot be achieved by masks alone. Working, verified extraction has to be doing the control.
Yes. A diagnosed occupational cancer linked to a workplace carcinogen is reportable to the HSE under RIDDOR, and the exposure history, including whether extraction was maintained and tested, forms part of the picture.
Have it thoroughly examined and tested at least every fourteen months, run weekly user checks, keep hoods in position and ducts clear, and act on any drop in performance rather than waiting for it to be found.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
We test woodworking extraction so its performance is proven, not assumed, and report on anything that undermines control. Call or email to book.