Respirable crystalline silica does its damage quietly. There is no cough at the end of a dusty shift to warn you, just fine particles settling deep in the lungs and scarring them over years until the breathlessness arrives and it is too late to undo. By then the control checks that would have shown whether the dust was managed are long thrown out. So the real question about a dust monitoring record is not what the form looks like. It is whether there is a dependable, dated trail that the controls were working and the exposure was managed, day after day.
Guide · Mining & Quarrying
Dust and silica monitoring record app for UK quarries.
A practical guide to recording respirable crystalline silica and dust controls under COSHH, from paper logs and generic apps to a WhatsApp workflow that ties each control check and result to the person, the task and the day.
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The point
A record does not clean the air.
Dust suppression, extraction and RPE do. Software makes the control check and the result easy to record at the plant, hard to forget the day the water spray was off, and quick to hand to the office. A good tool means the evidence exists when a worker's health surveillance flags a problem years later. Silica scars lungs slowly and permanently.
The hazard and the duty
Silica, exposure limits and surveillance.
The hazard
Respirable crystalline silica
Fine dust from cutting and crushing stone that lodges deep in the lungs and causes silicosis. You cannot see the respirable fraction, which is exactly why it is dangerous.
The limitCOSHH workplace exposure
RCS has a workplace exposure limit under COSHH. Exposure must be prevented or adequately controlled, with air monitoring where needed to show the controls work.
The evidenceControls, monitoring, surveillance
The record ties together control checks, any air-monitoring results and health surveillance, so exposure over time is documented, not guessed at.
The friction
The gap in the record is where the claim lands.
Dust harm shows up decades later, when the paper log is long gone. A control check filled in weekly, from memory, is not evidence. The daily note that the water spray was working, the extraction was on and RPE was worn is what stands up when health surveillance or a claim asks what the exposure was.
Run dust records on WhatsApp
No app install. No training.
The operator uses the phone in their pocket. A voice note that the sprays are working, a photo of the extraction unit, the reading off the monitor. The record generates itself, tied to the person and the day.
The short version
- Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is the fine, invisible dust from cutting, crushing and handling stone that causes silicosis and other lung disease over years of exposure.
- RCS carries a workplace exposure limit and is controlled under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), which require exposure to be prevented or adequately controlled.
- A dust record ties together three things: daily control checks (suppression, extraction, RPE), any air-monitoring results, and health surveillance.
- Air monitoring and health surveillance are specialist tasks. The app records and organises the evidence; it does not measure exposure or provide medical assessment.
- Per-report pricing beats per-seat for a site with many operators across shifts, because adding people is free.
- The record does not clean the air. Suppression, extraction and RPE do. The record is what the HSE inspector, or a future claim, asks to see.
The point
What a dust monitoring record is for
Quarrying, crushing, screening and cutting stone all release respirable crystalline silica, the fraction of dust fine enough to reach deep into the lungs. Because the harm is cumulative and delayed, the value of a record is not in a single reading but in an unbroken trail: evidence that, on each shift, the dust controls were in place and working, and that where monitoring was required the results were captured.
Software does not clean the air. Water suppression, local exhaust ventilation and respiratory protective equipment do. What software does is make the control check and the result easy to record at the plant, hard to forget the day something was off, and quick to organise into evidence that holds up over the decades a dust disease takes to appear. A gap in that record is exactly where a future health surveillance finding, or a civil claim, does its damage.
The hazard
Respirable crystalline silica
Crystalline silica is common in the rock most quarries work. When it is cut, crushed, drilled or handled, it produces a very fine airborne dust, and the respirable fraction is small enough to bypass the body's defences and lodge in the lungs. Repeated exposure causes silicosis, an irreversible scarring of the lung tissue, and is linked to other serious disease including lung cancer and COPD. The dangerous fraction is invisible, so a workplace can look clean and still be harmful.
That invisibility is why controls and records matter. You cannot judge exposure by eye. Quickler records that the specific controls for a task were checked and working, with a photo of a running spray bar or extraction unit, tied to the operator and the shift, so the day-to-day picture of control is documented rather than assumed.
The duty
COSHH and the exposure limit
Respirable crystalline silica is a substance hazardous to health, so it is governed by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH). COSHH requires that exposure is prevented, or where that is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled below the workplace exposure limit set for RCS. Control follows a hierarchy: eliminate or reduce the dust at source, then engineering controls such as water suppression and extraction, then RPE as a supplement, with training and maintenance throughout.
Where control relies on those measures, air monitoring may be needed to show they are adequate, and health surveillance may be required for exposed workers. The exposure limit and the detail of these duties are set out in COSHH and HSE guidance and can change. Treat this as general information and confirm the current workplace exposure limit for RCS and your COSHH duties directly.
The controls
Suppression, extraction and RPE
The daily record is built around the controls the risk assessment specifies. Typically that means water suppression, the spray bars and dust-damping that stop dust becoming airborne at the crusher, screen and transfer points; local exhaust ventilation or extraction where enclosure is used; good housekeeping so settled dust is not re-disturbed; and respiratory protective equipment of the right type, face-fit tested and worn, where a residual risk remains. Each of these can fail quietly: a blocked nozzle, an extraction unit switched off, an RPE mask not fit-tested.
Quickler captures each control as a check, with a photo where it helps and a note when something is not working, so a failed spray bar is logged the day it happens rather than discovered at an audit. The tool records the state of the controls; it does not maintain them or decide whether they are adequate, which is the job of the risk assessment and a competent occupational hygienist.
Monitoring and surveillance
Where the specialists come in
Two things sit alongside the daily control checks and should not be confused with them. Air monitoring, sampling the respirable dust an operator actually breathes, is a specialist measurement carried out by a competent person with calibrated equipment, and it produces results against the exposure limit. Health surveillance, checking exposed workers for early signs of lung disease, is a medical process run by an appropriate occupational health provider.
Quickler is the record layer, not the monitor or the clinician. It stores an air-monitoring result the hygienist reports and files the health-surveillance status against the worker, so the full picture, controls, exposure results and surveillance, lives in one place. It does not measure RCS, provide medical assessment, or replace the occupational hygienist and occupational health provider who do that work.
Pricing
Per report, not per seat
Most inspection apps charge per seat. A quarry runs shifts of operators, plus fitters, supervisors and contractors, and per-seat pricing means paying a licence for every one of them just to log a dust check.
Quickler charges per report, with unlimited users on every bundle. Bundles run from Quickler 50 at 50 pounds a month for 50 reports, up to Quickler 500 at 500 pounds a month for 500 reports. Add every operator across every shift; you pay for the records filed, not the people who could file them. Pricing is approximate and changes, so confirm the current pricing page before you commit.
Questions, answered
What is respirable crystalline silica?
Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is the very fine fraction of silica dust, produced when stone is cut, crushed, drilled or handled, that is small enough to reach deep into the lungs. Repeated exposure causes silicosis, an irreversible lung scarring, and is linked to lung cancer and COPD. The dangerous fraction is invisible, so a workplace can look clean and still be harmful.
What does COSHH require for silica dust?
RCS is controlled under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH). Exposure must be prevented, or where that is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled below the workplace exposure limit for RCS, using a hierarchy of controls from source reduction to extraction to RPE. Air monitoring and health surveillance may be required. Confirm the current exposure limit and your COSHH duties directly, as these can change.
Does a dust record replace air monitoring?
No. Air monitoring is a specialist measurement of the respirable dust a worker breathes, carried out by a competent person with calibrated equipment. A dust record documents the daily control checks and stores the monitoring results and health-surveillance status in one place. Quickler is the record layer; it does not measure RCS or provide medical assessment.
Can I run dust monitoring records over WhatsApp?
Yes. Quickler's dust record runs over the WhatsApp Business API. The operator receives each control check in their existing WhatsApp chat, replies with text, a voice note or a photo of a running spray bar, and the record generates automatically, tied to the person and the shift. Monitoring results and surveillance status can be stored alongside. Quickler manages the WhatsApp Business API account on the firm's behalf.