What causes dust in warehouses? Dust sources to monitor

Dust is a common issue in storage areas and if it’s left to gather, it can lead to products getting dirty, machinery that doesn’t work properly, extra cleaning work, health issues for employees and the potential for it to impact customer satisfaction levels. Here are the main sources of warehouse dust that you need to keep an eye on to avoid these problems. 

"A bit of dust isn't that bad." 

You’re likely to hear someone say this if you work in a warehouse or industrial setting, and even if it’s meant as a joke, it normally reflects the culture that’s allowed that dust to gather. But the reality is that dust can be ‘that bad’ and it can cause real issues. 

Dust in the workplace: 

• Endangers the health of your employees 
• Causes high cleaning costs 
• Results in dusty goods and dissatisfied customers 
• Can even bring entire systems to a standstill 

But if you want to get your warehouse dust issues under control, it’s important to be aware of what is causing it, so you need to understand the causes of dust. 

1. Cardboard boxes and pallets 
   Cardboard boxes and pallets are responsible for a large amount of dust that you find in warehouses, particularly through the cutting, folding, filling and transporting of boxes. 
2. Dust from forklift trucks 
   Forklifts also do more than their share of moving dust around, with their daily use causing floor abrasion and depositing dust up on the shelves and boxes, into machines and, even worse, the lungs of your employees. It can also impact the forklifts themselves, with the engine sucking the dust particles in, affecting the performance and longevity of your trucks. 
3. Loading ramps and open gates 
   It’s hard to avoid having open gates and doors in a warehouse, particularly when cargo is being loaded and unloaded frequently. However, it can be a major cause of dust issues, and areas around loading ramps usually have a particularly high concentration of dust particles in the air.  
4. Goods transportation 
   The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that the transportation of goods is one of the main causes of dust in warehouses because they often arrive already covered in dust. This is even more of a problem if they are then passed on to customers in this condition, which doesn’t give good a good impression of your business. 

The fact that you’ve come to this blog shows that you’re concerned about the impact of dust on your business, staff and customers. And that’s no surprise given that it can lead to:  

• Employees suffering from chronic respiratory diseases (like COPD) due to dust 
• High cleaning costs to keep your warehouse dust-free 
• Reduced service life of machinery due to the spread of dust