When walking through an industrial facility it’s easy to only look at eye level and consider it clean. Unfortunately, high surface areas such as high ceilings and rafters are often left out of the industrial cleaning process.
Issues Caused From High Surface Dust
Dirt and dust travels through the air and lands on these high surfaces, where they accumulate quickly. Since these areas are out of reach and out of sight they don’t get regularly cleaned, which will increase the risks associated with the lack of high ceiling dusting. However, while it may seem that as long as that ceiling dust stays up there it’s not hurting anything, when in reality it is causing numerous problems within the building.
1. Quality Control Issues From Falling Debris
Vibrations and air movement can cause loose built up dust to fall and contaminate production areas below. This can lead to higher than expected numbers of quality control issues, or even damage machinery.
2. Less Efficient HVAC System
Chunks of dust can be blown into the ventilation system, clogging the HVAC and making it work harder to move air throughout the building.
3. Employee Health Risks
Accumulated dust creates the ideal breeding ground for mites, mold, bacteria, viruses, and even insects or rodents. Mites and mold can cause allergic reactions in some people; bacteria and viruses will spread throughout the building making your employees sick.
4. Combustible Dust Explosion
Certain types of dusts can pose a fire hazard when they collect in large enough areas. Many secondary explosions in factories have been caused by an explosive dust cloud forming when dust is knocked down from high surfaces.
Dust collected in out of sight areas creates the largest hazard and should be a regular part of combustible dust cleaning procedures. Not to mention, OSHA will inspect according to NFPA requirements, and will give expensive citations for any buildup dust in these areas.
Routine High Surface Cleaning
High surface cleaning will remove dust, dirt, grease, and other materials commonly found on the high surfaces of manufacturing and production facilities. Areas that should not go untouched when cleaning high surfaces include:
- Ceiling
- Ceiling Truss
- Rafters
- Conduit
- Lighting
- Exterior of ductwork
- Exhaust hood ventilation
- Beams
- Storage racks/shelving
- Fire suppression systems
- Ceiling Deck
- Piping
Cleaning high surface dust can improve health and safety of your work environment, eliminate an explosion hazard and avoid costly OSHA fines. Whether your facility is shutdown during this time or not, Hughes will work around your work schedule to help keep your facility clean.
We specialize in cleaning projects for commercial and industrial facilities, and we’re focused on safety. Our technicians are OSHA trained, experienced working on high surfaces, and we’re experts in combustible dust safety. You can keep your working environment safe and avoid quality control problems with rafter and ceiling cleaning.
Think dust collected on high surfaces might be causing issues in you facility? Contact us now to find out how we can help you!
Contact Us Here or call 888-845-3952
