Protect your lungs at work

Working around hazardous agents

Hazardous agents are materials, substances, mixtures or particles that can seriously put your health and safety at risk, especially if they’re not handled properly. Breathing in hazardous agents can cause lung disease. If you already have a lung disease like asthma, being around these harmful substances can also make your condition worse.

Diseases that are caused by breathing in hazardous agents at work are called occupational lung diseases, or work-related lung diseases. This term can apply to many different lung diseases, including:

• Pneumoconiosis
• Asbestosis
• Silicosis
• Black lung disease (coal worker’s pneumoconiosis)
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
• Mesothelioma
• Work-related asthma
• Occupational lung infections.

How long it takes to develop an occupational lung disease depends on the hazardous agent and your exposure levels to it. Some can show up in months or years while you are still working. Others can appear long after you’ve changed jobs or retired, even decades later. Work-related asthma can develop soon after you start a job.

You might have been told that being around hazardous agents and the risks that come with it are just part of your job. But that’s not true. Everyone has a right to be safe at work, and your lung health is no different. Occupational lung diseases can be prevented.

Who is most at risk?

If you are around harmful substances at work, you’re at risk of developing an occupational lung disease. Your risk is higher if you work in these jobs or industries, or with certain materials:

Occupations / Industries:

• Agriculture
• Building and construction, including artificial and natural stone fabrication and installation 
• Industrial and manufacturing 
• Mining and quarrying, including open-cut mines
• Military and emergency services, such as firefighters and military veterans.

Materials:

• Artificial (engineered) stone
• Bioaerosols: such as soil and animal dander
• Chemicals: such as cleaning products, isocyanates
• Dusts: such as silica dust, coal dust, asbestos
• Fumes or gases: such as those from welding equipment or around diesel.

Hazardous agents can be hard to spot. So, it’s important to actively protect your lung health, especially if you work in a high risk environment. Some of the more hazardous dust, like silica dust, can’t be seen at all. This means you can’t determine the level of risk of an area just by looking at the amount of visible dust.

If you work with or around hazardous agents, you are at risk of developing an occupational lung disease. Staff working in areas where dust, fumes, or gases may be present can also be at risk. 

Most occupational lung diseases are caused by being around hazardous agents through repeated long-term exposure. However, even one single severe exposure can damage your lungs. Learn what you can do to protect yourself and help lower your risk.

What you can do to protect yourself

Here are important steps you can take to protect your lungs at work:

Follow workplace safety policies

Your employer must take action to stop or lower health and safety risks as much as possible, these actions are referred to as the Hierarchy of Controls As an employee, you need to follow these steps.

Take part in health monitoring

If you work with certain hazardous agents, you are required to have health monitoring (also known as health surveillance) under Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) laws. In some industries, your employer must organise this and pay for it. A registered doctor does health monitoring. It involves examinations and ongoing checks to see if the agents you are around are affecting your health.

Know the symptoms

Not everyone will have symptoms, but if you do, common signs of a lung condition include:

• Cough
• Shortness of breath (after activity and/or while sitting or resting)
• A tight chest
• Wheezing
• Blocked and/or runny nose.

Symptoms can look like other health problems, so always talk to your doctor. 

Talk to your doctor

Have regular check-ups with your doctor, even if you aren’t feeling any symptoms. Read our checklist to learn what you should discuss with your doctor. 

Quit smoking or vaping

Smoking or vaping anything, including tobacco, e-liquids, or other drugs, increases your risk of many lung diseases. The sooner you quit, the better. Even if you smoke or vape, you should still protect your lung health at work. 

Practice good hygiene

Wash your hands and face before eating and drinking at work. Put any dusty clothes in a separate laundry basket.

Protect yourself and your mates

Take our quick healthy lungs at work quiz to learn how to protect yourself and your mates. The more you know about the risks, the better you can protect your lungs at work and make choices that protect your lung health now and in the future.

Take the quiz

Helpful resources

Helpful links

• 3M: Science of safety podcast – A practical and informative podcast talking about the complexities of daily safety at work. It gives lots of tips and advice to navigate your way. 
• Cancer Council: KNOW Asbestos – A course for DIY home renovators to arm them with basic knowledge about asbestos, and the risks and safe practices when working with or removing small amounts of materials containing asbestos. 
• Creative Safety Initiatives: Course in Asbestos Awareness [10675NAT] – Know when and where asbestos and asbestos-containing materials may be present and the precautions needed to be taken. 
• Creative Safety Initiatives: Course in Crystalline Silica Exposure Prevention [10830NAT] – Recognise workplace health and safety risks and hazards when working with crystalline silica containing products, and how to work out a plan for safe systems of work.