Silica Dust Awareness

About this course.

This course raises awareness of the risks from silica dust and the practical steps to control it. Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is one of the biggest health risks to construction and stonework workers in the UK, causing serious, sometimes fatal, lung disease — but the risk is preventable. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that exposure to RCS is linked to many hundreds of deaths each year from lung disease, the great majority of which arise in construction and related trades. The course explains what silica dust is, the everyday activities that produce it, the law that applies in Great Britain, the effects on health, and how to control the risk at source using the hierarchy of control — substitution, water suppression, on-tool extraction and local exhaust ventilation, with respiratory protection as a final supplementary layer.

It also covers health surveillance, good hygiene and the practical responsibilities placed on both employers and employees. It is written for a UK workforce and is consistent with COSHH 2002, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and current HSE guidance (including the HSE construction dust pages and EH40 Workplace Exposure Limits). It is awareness-level training and does not replace task-specific instruction, COSHH assessment or face-fit testing required for your particular job.