The OPPBTP publishes a new guide to reduce employee exposure to wood dust

The commitments made provided, in particular, for carrying out a study (PROPOBOIS) aimed at helping companies reduce employee exposure to wood dust in the wood-construction and furniture sector. This 18-month study led to the development of the guide "Wood dust: assess the risk of exposure in your workshop" which offers a series of solutions and practical recommendations to be implemented to improve working conditions.

An educational guide for better prevention

The guide "Wood dust: assess the risk of exposure in your workshop" jointly developed by the OPPBTP and FCBA aims to support business leaders in assessing the situation of their business in relation to the risk. wood dust and above all to identify the major points for improvement and the concrete actions to be taken.

The method described in this 71-page book offers a practical way to better understand the issues specific to each company. It is applied step by step and is supported by a tool established in Excel facilitating data entry and calculations, and thanks to which it is possible, in complete autonomy:

• identify areas of major risk of exposure to wood dust in the workshop;
• to determine and prioritize the actions to be implemented;
• to participate in the definition of similar exposure groups within the framework of the regulatory control of the occupational exposure limit value (OELP).

Contents of this guide:

• The challenges of a good control of the exhibition: information relating to the effects of wood dust and the importance of minimum good practices to be implemented in order to set the framework for companies.
• The stages of self-diagnosis: this chapter deals, step by step, with the evaluation method to independently determine the situation with regard to the risk of wood dust.
• Corrective actions after the self-diagnosis: this part deals with the analysis of the results of the self-diagnosis and proposes courses of corrective actions that can be implemented in order to reduce the level of employee exposure.
• Annex 1 : Respiratory protective devices.
• Annex 2 : Good practice self-assessment quiz.
• Annex 3 : Examples of application cases of the method.

Throughout the development of this guide, these elements were validated with the Copil “Poussières de bois” comprising professional organizations in the secondary wood processing (Ameublement français, CAPEB, UMB de la FFB, UFME, UIPC , UICB SCOP BTP).

The guide is available on the websites of theOPPBTP and FCBA

Wood dust, a major issue for the industry

Around 444 employees say they are exposed to wood dust in the course of their work (according to the SUMER 200 survey). However, these particles can be the cause of health problems ranging from simple skin damage to the development of sinus or nasal cavity cancer.

Reducing employee exposure to wood dust is therefore a major issue that the OPPBTP and the FCBA institute wished to address through the implementation of concrete actions.

The collaboration between the OPPBTP and FCBA was initiated within the framework of the “Wood dust” agreement (2012/2015) signed with the Ministry of Labor, INRS, CNAMTS and professional organizations in the wood and furniture sectors. It was continued in 2017 by carrying out a study (PROPOBOIS) in order to define a diagnostic approach, easily applicable by companies, for the determination of “Similar Exposure Groups” (GES).

This study, carried out over 18 months with 8 voluntary companies in the wood-construction and furniture sector representative of the profession, made it possible to analyze different employee exposure situations in relation to the nature of the processes used and to develop a series of solutions which are now detailed in the guide "Wood dust: assess the risk of exposure in your workshop".