Dust that arises during the construction process is called “construction dust”. People who are exposed for construction dust for a long period of time are at risk to develop several forms of lung problems, allergies and cancer. Today construction dust is a huge problem during the production in Skanska´s renovation projects. Every day workers are exposed of the unhealthy construction dust and it can cause lung problems and diseases after 10-30 years. This is a problem that must be taken into account to obtain a better working environment on Skanska´s building sites. Skanska Sweden AB has given two students the task to investigate possible problems about the spreading of construction dust. The students have made a literature study in construction wood- and quartz dust to try to solve this question. To obtain a reality-based approach of the problem, an observational study was performed on several construction sites as well as interviewing workers and officials. It has become clear that the problem is first and foremost based on a lack of knowledge about construction dust and the many risks that it causes. Based on the information and analyzes, a working method has been made called Kort Information Säkerhet (KIS). This presentation bases has been done to raise awareness and provide further knowledge of construction dust. The information will be carried out by Skanska officials to share the new information to Skanska’s employ’s.

Purpose: Quartz dust is a serious problem on construction sites all over the world. Thefine-grained dust that is perceived as invisible for the naked eye, gets stuck in the exposed individual’s respiratory system where it in the long run can result in illness and in the worst scenario death. Silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or lungcancer are all consequences related to exposure of quartz dust. During this study has ananalysis been implemented to find out how well known this problem actually is within the building industry and how prevented work is done to minimize quarts dust exposure. Method: To collect the correct type of information applicable for the studies goal has a qualitative study with a case study approach using interviews and surveys been performed. The interviews were directed towards the supervisors, while the surveys were given to the construction workers at three construction companies that were contacted. The reason being for this were to create an actual image of how the work is conducted in real life situations. The collected data was there after sorted and analysed with the theoretical frameworks implemented during the study to help with the validation and reliability of the finalized result. Findings: There is an existing connection between the lack of knowledge of the consequences of quartz dust, health aspects and the construction workers habits while working. There is also a finding in the flaws of the safety equipment’s design that contributes to the fact that workers decide to work without it even though the company’sregulations prohibit this. Implications: When safety equipment is overlooked the worker is exposed for multiple possible health aspects. To increase the workers understanding of the situation and develop the education process could result in an improvement to the situation. T odevelop the safety equipment could also contribute to the current situation. Limitations: Quartz dust is not a problem that’s only specified to the sites that are included in this study, this means that the result can be implemented far of this studies borders. The building industry is only one of many working habitats were quartz dust is problematic for the workers. Work routines concerning quartz dust may vary and be different depending on the occupational group and their relegations which can result that the studies result may not be applicable in detail.

Kvartsdamm är ett arbetsmiljöproblem som kan leda till allvarliga konsekvenser för de exponerade yrkesarbetarna. De sjukdomar som ligger till följd för en hög exponering av kvartsdamm är framförallt silikos, KOL och lungcancer. Kvartsdammet uppstår då byggmaterial som innehåller kvartshaltigt material bearbetas, tillexempel betong. De små respirabla partiklarna av kvarts som uppstår vid bearbetningen bildar ärrvävnader i lungorna, vilket leder till att dem tappar sin kapacitet. Tidigare har krav ställts att arbetsplatserna ska utföra egna mätningar av kvarts, men inte längre. Nya författningssamlingen, AFS 2015:2 gör det möjligt för byggarbetsplatserna att använda sig av referensvärden och kringgå faktiska mätningar vid riskbedömningen av kvartsdamm. Examensarbetet redovisar några utav de hjälpmedel som används för en minskad exponering av dammet, där syftet är att hitta de största bristerna hos fallföretaget i byggproduktionen samt se hur den övergripande kunskapen ser ut på byggarbetsplatserna.Informationen till arbetet har samlats in från olika informationskällor, bland annat kvantitativa enkätundersökningar, semistrukturerade intervjuer samt informationssökning via internet där primärkällor prioriterats. Alternativa fakta har sorterats ut för en minskad avgränsning då examensarbetet enbart inriktar sig på den praktiska hanteringen av kvartsdamm.Examensarbetets resultat förväntas göra företagets riskbedömningsmall för kvartsdamm mer hanterbar genom den förenkling som tagits fram under arbetets gång. Diskussionerna har i huvudsak kretsat kring självkritisk bedömning av informationsinsamlingen samt hur utfallet av rapporten hade ändrats om fokus lades på andra delar vid arbetets början.Fallföretaget arbetar konstant med riskbedömning av kvarts för att uppnå en fullgod arbetsmiljö. En rotorsak var svårigheter kring just hanteringen av referensvärdena som gör att företaget inte använder riskbedömningsmallen som ett hjälpmedel. Då kvartsdamm ska bedömas i arbetsberedningarna är tanken att riskbedömningen som utförts i ett tidigare skede ska underlätta arbetet. Även kunskapen om kvartsdamm var varierande, där de anställda hos de större företagen har goda kunskaper medan de mindre underentreprenörerna har bristfälliga kunskaper. / Quartz dust is a health and safety problem that has serious consequences for the exposed workers. The diseases that are due to excessive exposure of silica are silicosis, COPD and lung cancer. The quartz dust occurs when building materials that containing quartz are processed, such as concrete. The small respirable quartz dust particles that occur during processing form scar tissues in the lungs, causing them to lose their capacity. In the past, demands have been made that workplaces should carry out their own measurements of quartz, but no longer. The new regulation, AFS 2015:2, enable construction sites to use benchmarks and circumvent actual measurements in the risk assessment of quartz dust. The study reports some of the tools used to reduce exposure to the dust, where the purpose is to find the biggest shortcomings of the case company in the construction production and see how the overall knowledge looks at the construction sites.The information for the work has been collected from various sources of information, including quantitative surveys, semi structured interviews and information retrieval via the Internet where primary sources have been prioritized. Alternative facts have been sorted out for a reduced demarcation as the degree project focuses solely on the practical handling of quartz dust. The discussion mainly revolved around self-critical assessment of information gathering. The discussion has also investigates how the outcome of the report have been changed if the focus had been other parts at the start of work.The case the company is constantly working with risk assessment of quartz to achieve an acceptable working environment. A isolating was a problem in dealing with the reference values, which means that the company does not use the risk assessment template as an aid. When quartz dust is to be assessed in the working preparations, the idea is that the risk assessment template facilitates the work. The knowledge of quartz dust was also variable, where the employees of the larger companies had good knowledge while the smaller subcontractors had inadequate knowledge.