Posted By Jerry Lucey Hi Gilles, It is good to see that LEV has been provided and not knowing your friends particular circumstances I would recommend that the effectiveness of the LEV be assessed to begin with. The LEV may be of a good standard, but if set-up or sited incorrectly it may be ineffective or may even increase the risk i.e. it may draw the dust directly into the worker's breathing zone.

Posted By Jerry Lucey While I am not an expert on LEVs it would appear that your LEV is drawing the dust away from the operator's breathing zone, which is important. Some of the important variables when looking at LEVs are transport velocity and capture velocity. If you had access to a suitably qualified engineer, perhaps these are areas that might be worth looking at. The capture velocity would probably be the most important in your case. RPE/ PPE is important and you are correct in examing this area as well.

Posted By Descarte OK too a bit of digging and I found it, however it was not realy that relevant http://www.iosh.co.uk/in...iew&forum=1&thread=17031

Posted By Rob Yuill I would have thought that dust is the last of a Nail Techie's problems. The fumes from Acetone and other organic solvents used for soaking/stripping nails is enough to send then off the wall. I ventured into a salon (once) to meet my other half and had to leave, the fumes were that strong! That is in addition to storage issues and disposal of solvent saturated waste! All the Techies were from the Far East (no not East London!), and could hardly speak a word of English. EHO's where are you? Comments invited. Rob

Posted By Jeffrey Watt Everyday is a schoolday. I thought fake nails were bits of plastic stuck on with UHU, turns out they are moulded in situ with monomers and peroxide catalysts, takes up to 2hrs. Round of applause for the sorority. Jeff

Posted By Jon Young Pol, the link says page not found?

Posted By Chris Packham When you say "nail technician", is your friend actually working in a salon, vis-a-vis a customer, or is he/she working away from customers? If this is in a workshop, then it should not be too difficult to ensure that the downdraft bench (which it appears is being used) works adequately so that no RPE is actually required. This would certainly be my preferred option, rather than concern myself at this stage with the RPE. Have you done any air velocity movements for the bench? I would measure immediately at the bench surface and then slightly above where the dust is being created. If the velocity is not high enough (as it appears) to adequately control the dust, then there are various options open to you. This need not be a larger motor or fan. If you are not familiar with the basics of LEV, then I would recommend you get hold of a copy of HSG37. This should provide you with some ideas. If you still need some help, feel free to contact me direct (01386 832 311) Chris