COSHH Compliant Dust Extraction Equipment

COSHH Compliant Dust Extraction — The Engineering Control the Regulations Require

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) place a legal duty on employers to control worker exposure to hazardous substances — including dust. The COSHH hierarchy of controls requires engineering controls to be implemented before relying on personal protective equipment. For dust-generating tasks in construction, manufacturing and remediation environments, that engineering control is certified extraction equipment — M-Class or H-Class, depending on the hazard.

The equipment in this collection is independently tested and certified to EN 60335-2-69. The classification mark on the machine is the evidence that satisfies a COSHH assessment, a method statement and an HSE inspector. A vacuum cleaner without a classification mark is not a COSHH engineering control — regardless of what its marketing literature claims.

COSHH dust classification — which class for which hazard

M-Class — 99.9% at 1 micron. Required for: silica dust (RCS) WEL 0.1mg/m³ — stone, concrete, block, brick cutting; hardwood dust WEL 3mg/m³ — all hardwood sanding and cutting; flour dust WEL 10mg/m³ (total) 3mg/m³ (respirable); any substance with a WEL below 1mg/m³. HSE ran over 1,000 site inspections in 2026 targeting RCS exposure.
H-Class — 99.995% at 0.3 microns, H14 HEPA. Required for: asbestos — licensed contractor specification; mould — Hazard Group 2 biological agent under COSHH, H-Class is the only compliant engineering control for remediation vacuuming; carcinogenic dusts where M-Class is insufficient.

COSHH enforcement — what HSE is checking

HSE enforcement of COSHH dust control has intensified significantly since 2024. Inspectors attending construction sites and workshops where dust-generating tasks are being carried out are checking:

Whether a COSHH assessment exists for the specific dust-generating task
Whether engineering controls — extraction equipment — are in use at the point of observation
Whether the extraction equipment carries an M-Class or H-Class classification mark
Whether the classification is appropriate for the substance being extracted
Whether method statements specify the extraction class being used

Prohibition notices, improvement notices and fixed penalty notices follow non-compliance. Prosecution follows repeat or serious breaches.

Workplace Exposure Limits — key substances

Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) — 0.1mg/m³ TWA. Carcinogen. Causes silicosis, lung cancer. M-Class minimum.
Hardwood dust — 3mg/m³ TWA. Carcinogen. Causes sino-nasal cancer. M-Class minimum.
Softwood dust — 5mg/m³ TWA. Causes occupational asthma. M-Class minimum.
Flour dust — 10mg/m³ (total), 3mg/m³ (respirable). Causes occupational asthma and baker's lung. M-Class minimum.
Mould (biological agent) — no WEL. Hazard Group 2 biological agent. Causes allergic alveolitis, asthma, infection. H-Class required.
Asbestos — 0.1 fibres/cm³ TWA (control limit). Causes mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer. H-Class required. Licensed contractor for notifiable work.