Dust Collection System Captures Fugitive Dust, Ensures OSHA Compliance
•Case Study: Dust Collection System Captures Fugitive Dust, Ensures OSHA Compliance
West Coast Cosmetics, Chatsworth, Calif., a contract filler and private label house, manufactures and packages custom cosmetic products such as eye shadow, blush, mascara, lipstick, foundation, and others. In spring 2003, OSHA inspected the company's plant and told the company it needed to install a dust collection system to remove fugitive dust from the plant's compounding and filling rooms. To comply with OSHA's requirements, the company worked with a local manufacturers' rep to design and install a new dust collection system.
Experiencing problems with
fugitive dust
When making a custom cosmetic
product, the company first blends the
various required powder ingredients
in a small mixer in the compounding
room. The finished blend is moved to
the filling room where it's packaged in
small containers that are put into large
boxes and shipped to the customer.
In the past, operators in these rooms wore masks and other protective clothing to guard against the fugitive dust generated during the mixing and filling processes. A small quantity of dust would settle onto the equipment, tabletops, and floors, accumulating overnight. In the morning, the operators would sweep it up before starting their shift. Then, a little more than 4 years ago, OSHA inspected the plant and found these dust-protection and -removal methods insufficient. To remedy the problem, OSHA told the company to install a dust collection system to remove the fugitive dust from the rooms as it was generated. "OSHA told us that we needed to provide a completely dust-free working environment for the workers in the compounding and filling rooms," says Keith Anderson, West Coast Cosmetics plant manager. "So we began looking for an efficient dust collection system that would suck up the fugitive dust and take it out of the rooms, allowing us to meet the state's air-quality and worker-safety standards."
Searching for a dust collector
Anderson contacted several dust collection
equipment suppliers and manufacturers'
reps to learn more about
their equipment and capabilities for
meeting the plant's requirements. He
says, "It took about four months to get
all the data that we needed to make
our final decision. And in the end, we
chose Air Cleaning Solutions, a manufacturers'
rep that focuses on air filtration
products, because they had the
best bid and provided the best equipment
and options for what we needed
to do in our plant."
In November 2003, the company purchased
a complete dust collection
system from the Huntington Beach,
Calif., manufacturers' rep. The system
features a baghouse dust collector
manufactured by Scientific Dust
Collectors (SDC), Alsip, Ill., a supplier
of dust collection, indoor air
quality, and ventilation equipment.
•Case Study: Dust Collection System Captures Fugitive Dust, Ensures OSHA Compliance