Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993)

Regulations

Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2020

Annexures

Annexure 3 : Hazardous Chemical Agent Guidelines

Guidance on medical surveillance and biological monitoring

Applying occupational exposure limits

Dusts

Purchase

66.

The general approach necessary to control occupational exposure to dusts is as follows: not all dusts have been assigned OELs, but the lack of such limits should not imply an absence of hazard. In the absence of a specific exposure limit for a particular dust, exposure should be adequately controlled. Where there is no indication of the need for a lower value, personal exposure should be kept below both 10 mg/m³, eight-hour timeweighted average, total airborne dust and 5 mg/m³, eight-hour time-weighted, average respirable dust. Such, or greater, dust concentrations should be taken as excessive concentrations.

67.	Where dusts contain components which have their own assigned OELs, all the relevant limits should be complied with.