Inhalable dust exposures, tasks, and use of ventilation in small woodworking shops: A pilot study

Measures of workers' inhalable dust exposures, tasks, and ventilation use w ere made in five small woodworking shops prior to the start of an intervent ion effectiveness study aimed at lowering personal wood dust exposures. The data were used to (1) design a sampling protocol for an intervention succe ss measure, (2) identify targets for intervention among the tasks and activ ities responsible for high dust levels, and (3) develop shop-level measures as tools for tailoring intervention activities. Geometric mean dust concen trations ranged from 1.6 to 9.9 mg/ m(3) in the five shops, with the highes t levels occurring in a cabinet shop. All shops had centralized dust collec tion systems and workers generally used dust control on stationary tools (6 0-100% of the time) when it was available. Sanding with both stationary and handheld powered tools, cleaning with methods that can disperse dust (e.g. , brushes, compressed air), and miscellaneous tasks were all responsible fo r significant personal exposures. The positive association between miscella neous tasks and exposures probably reflects the high background levels gene rated by nearby processes. Sanding with both stationary tools and handheld powered tools represents the most significant influence on personal exposur es in small woodworking shops. The authors conclude that pilot studies are useful tools for designing occupational health and safety intervention effe ctiveness studies.