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Furniture maker told to stop sweeping floor with a broom by health and safety bosses
12th of July 2019
A furniture maker in the UK has been advised that he should put down his broom in favour of an industrial vacuum by health and safety bosses.
Michael Northcroft said he was encouraged to no longer sweep the floor of his factory as it could cause serious harm to his 10 workers. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) told him the sweeping of sawdust exposed his employees to "a substance hazardous to health, namely airborne wood dust".
But Northcroft remains defiant and plans to continue to sweep his factory in east London rather than using an industrial vacuum.
"It's a load of rubbish. My message to the health and safety executives is 'sorry, I'm not doing it. The broom stays'," he said in an interview with the Sun.
He argues that his broom poses less of a risk than using commercial vacuums because "power cables will be running everywhere".
Work-related lung disease accounts for 12,000 deaths per year and exposure to high levels of wood dust is one of the direct causes of occupational asthma and nasal cancer in the woodworking industry, according to the HSE.
A statement said: "HSE has not banned the use of broomsticks in the workplace. We've advised this employer on how to better protect his workers' health, such as improving his vacuum filters to significantly reduce dust exposure."
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