Occupational Hygiene Dust Sampler Comparison Study in Western Australian Mining Operations​

The Challenge

​​Workplace aerosol monitoring is undertaken to assess exposures to hazardous airborne dusts which may impact the health of workers (Kock, 2015). There are several validated sampling methodologies which can be used to assess workplace aerosols, however the various size selective sampling heads used within these methods are often poorly validated in the workplace setting (Hanlon et al., 2021).

​There is also little industry guidance available for the use of direct reading (real-time) monitoring equipment for exposure assessment (Thorpe, 2013). Using real-time monitoring technology has significant advantages over established gravimetric sampling methods due to the immediate availability of results, and lower overall long-term costs with no costly laboratory analysis required, which is appealing to the Western Australian mining industry due to the ongoing risk-based occupational hygiene monitoring programs required by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS, 2018).​

Proposed Solution

With the increasing sophistication of sampling devices for occupational hygiene assessment, research to assess their performance is a priority. The research aim is to systematically assess a range of occupational hygiene dust sampling devices, including real-time monitors, to determine their suitability for risk-based exposure measurements.

Proposed Benefits to WA

The results from this PhD research project will help to inform industry and Regulators through a series of scientific research publications on the following:

• Evaluate various occupational hygiene samplers and new technologies for their sampling efficiency against the desired size fraction and performance in the workplace setting.
• Contribute to the development of industry guidance and standards on real-time monitor use for exposure assessment to reduce gravimetric sampling cost and inefficiencies.
• Contribute to the development of standards (e.g., EN 13205) in which to conduct sampler comparison studies for real-time monitoring equipment in Australia.
• Inform designers and manufacturers of which real-time monitoring technologies perform best in the mining environment and what are the gaps to be resolved in future equipment design.
• With the validated use of real-time monitoring equipment for regulatory reporting, this has the potential to save the mining industry money on analysis, sampling costs.
• Reduce health impacts for mine workers.

Project Duration

4 years, 6 months commenced February 2024.