--- title: "Workplace dust, noise and heat | Nexus Observatory" description: "Workers breathe dust and fumes, hear machines all shift and work in heat. Periodic surveys catch a few days a year. Fixed sensors across the floor…" url: https://observatory.global/industries/industry/workplace-exposure/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-11-02 --- [Nexus Observatory](https://observatory.global/) / [Industry](https://observatory.global/industries/industry/) / [Specialized fields](https://observatory.global/industries/industry/fields/) / **Workplace dust, noise and heat** # Exposure on the factory floor, measured where people work. Workers breathe dust and fumes, hear machines all shift and work in heat. Periodic surveys catch a few days a year. Fixed sensors across the floor, with wearables on representative workers, show exposure every shift, so controls are fixed where they fail and limits are kept. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) How it works [Station Builder](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) **Industry**: Industry **Measurements**: 4 **Sources cited**: 4 1. Industry · Workplace dust, noise and heat A few days a year Workers breathe dust and fumes, hear machines all shift and work near furnaces in summer heat. Exposure surveys are required, but they catch a few days a year. When extraction fails or a process changes, exposure can rise for weeks before the next survey finds it. 2. What is measured Dust, gas, noise and heat Fixed sensors at work areas measure respirable dust, gases and vapours, noise and the heat stress index every minute. Wearables on representative workers measure what people actually breathe and hear over the shift, within the groups of the measurement strategy. InstrumentsDust sensors · Gas sensors · Noise sensors · Heat stress sensors · Wearables 3. The base node Shift exposure, every shift The node computes shift exposures for each area and group, compares them with limits and action values, flags failing extraction when dust rises near a source and raises heat stress alerts with rest guidance for supervisors. Every value is signed at the node before it leaves. 4. Radio and links No cables on the floor Sensors across the floor reach a gateway over a low-power link, so nothing has to be cabled around moving machines. Wearables upload their shift records through Wi-Fi at the end of the shift, and the edge node joins the plant network over fibre. LinksLoRaWAN · Wi-Fi · Fibre 5. How it works From rising dust to a fixed extractor Respirable dust near a grinding cell climbs through the morning shift while production is normal. The node flags failing extraction; maintenance finds a torn duct and repairs it at lunch, and exposure for the group returns below the limit that afternoon, all on record. 6. From order to operation · Order Scope the exposure risks The scope reads the plant's risk assessments, past surveys, processes and the workers most exposed. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the sensor and wearable plan, the measurement strategy design and a price per plant and per year. The scope is agreed before any site work begins. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) 7. From order to operation · Survey Survey work areas Crews survey work areas with health and safety staff: sources, extraction, noisy machines, hot areas and where people spend their shifts. Similar exposure groups are defined for the measurement strategy. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built. 8. From order to operation · Permits Consultation and privacy Workers and their representatives are consulted, wearables measure exposure and not individual performance, and privacy rules for personal data are agreed. Every agreement is kept with the plant record. No crew goes to site before its approvals are in place. 9. From order to operation · Build Build and calibrate Dust, gas, noise and heat sensors are calibrated against references, radios paired, the gateway and node configured with limits and action values and enrolled with their identities. Everything is tested together before shipping. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together. [Open the Station Builder](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) 10. From order to operation · Install Install across the floor Crews mount sensors at work areas and sources, set up the gateway and node, and issue wearables to representative workers. Every point is photographed and mapped to its work area. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work. The site record is updated before the crew leaves. 11. From order to operation · Commission Commission against a survey Each node proves its identity. Fixed and wearable readings are compared with a standard occupational hygiene survey over representative shifts, and alerts are tested with the health and safety team. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. Results are signed and kept with the site record. 12. From order to operation · Operate Keep exposure below limits Health and safety teams see exposure by area and shift. Failing extraction is fixed the day dust rises, noise areas are marked and controlled, heat alerts bring rest breaks, and records go to occupational health. Every alert and action is kept on the record. 13. From order to operation · Maintain Recalibrate and reassess Sensors are recalibrated on the agreed plan, wearables rotated through representative workers, the measurement strategy reviewed after process changes, and software updated in rings. Every change is kept with the plant record. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life. [Book field services](https://observatory.global/contact/field-service/) 14. Data products For safety, maintenance and health Health and safety teams receive exposure by area and shift; maintenance teams receive extraction failure alerts; supervisors and workers receive heat stress alerts; occupational health services and inspectors receive exposure records, each tied to area, group and shift. Every product can be traced back to its readings. [See the data products](https://observatory.global/data-products/) 15. Evidence Measured to the strategy Exposure follows the European measurement strategy for chemical agents, noise the noise at work directive, carcinogens such as silica the carcinogens directive, and heat the international stress index. Every reading keeps its calibration, and every record is shared under privacy rules. Drawn againstEN 689 · Directive 2003/10/EC · Directive 2004/37/EC · ISO 7243 16. What you get Mine, plant and port site monitoring Slope radar, tailings monitoring, dust and water, and site connectivity for operations and closure. Delivered as managed service and hardware + software, for mining, heavy industry, ports. Scale: Site portfolios. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard. [Talk to sales](https://observatory.global/contact/sales-enquiry/) 17. Next step Plan workplace dust, noise and heat with us Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for workplace dust, noise and heat. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) [Open the Station Builder](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) [Open the Studio](https://observatory.global/studio/) **01** The place and its hazards ## Where it runs, and what can go wrong. Operating contextEmployers must assess and control exposure to chemical agents with a measurement strategy set by the European standard, keep noise below action values under the noise at work directive, protect workers from carcinogens such as respirable crystalline silica under the carcinogens directive, and assess heat stress with the international index. Hazards - Respirable dust and silica from cutting and grinding - Welding and solvent fumes - Noise above action values - Heat stress near furnaces and in summer - Controls that fail without anyone noticing **02** What must be measured ## What, where, how often, and under which rules. Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below. | Measurement | Where | Cadence | Sources | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Respirable dust and particulates | Fixed sensors at work areas, wearables on representative workers | Every minute | 12 | | Gases and vapours | Fixed sensors near sources | Every minute | 1 | | Noise levels | Fixed sensors and wearable dosimeters | Continuous, daily exposure | 3 | | Heat stress index | Sensors at hot work areas | Every minute | 4 | **03** The observation stack ## From one base unit to a network. The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol. 1. **01** Base unit A point: a dust, gas, noise or heat sensor on a low-power radio. [Build a station →](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) 2. **02** Site A plant: points across the floor and wearables, a gateway, an edge node and the plant network. [Plan a site →](https://observatory.global/contact/deployment/) 3. **03** Fleet Every plant of a company on one health and safety view. [Managed offers →](https://observatory.global/industries/industry/solutions/) 4. **04** Network Exposure records reach occupational health services and inspectors in agreed formats. [The open protocol →](https://observatory.global/protocol/) - **01** Air quality monitor - **02** Acoustic sensor - **03** Compact weather station - **04** LPWAN endpoint - **05** LoRaWAN gateway - **06** Edge node (Wedge) - **07** Fibre terminal Radio and links ### LoRaWAN Sensors across the floor reach a gateway over a low-power link, with no cabling. Radio and links ### Wi-Fi Wearables upload their shift records through Wi-Fi at the end of the shift. Radio and links ### Fibre The edge node joins the plant network over fibre. Edge computeThe node computes shift exposures for each area, compares them with limits and action values, flags failing extraction from rising dust near a source and raises heat stress alerts with rest guidance. PowerSensors run on batteries for months; the gateway and node run from the plant supply. **04** How it works ## From the instrument to the product. One observation's path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks. Workplace dust, noise and heat: data path – of 08 01 Instruments Measurement with sensor identity andcalibration 02 Field radio 03 Gateway 04 Node – Wrap in an observation envelope with timequality– Measure quality and uncertainty, attachquality flags– Buffer locally (store-and-forward when thelink drops) 05 Backhaul Commit with transactional outbox andpublish, delivered at least once 06 Site Consumer inbox deduplicates and applieseach record once into governed data 07 Data store Governed product through API, map orexport, correction-aware 08 Products OGC SensorThings APIMQTTLoRaWAN 01 Air quality monitor SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 02 Acoustic sensor SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 03 Compact weather station SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 04 LPWAN endpoint Analogue I/O · SDI-12 · RS-485 05 LoRaWAN gateway Ethernet · RF · GNSS antenna 06 Edge node (Wedge) Ethernet · Fibre · USB · RS-485 ·BMC 07 Fibre terminal Fibre · Ethernet Site MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B Governed data store Versioned, correction-aware Exposure by area and shift Extraction failure alerts Heat stress alerts Exposure records SDI-12 SDI-12 SDI-12 LoRaWAN Ethernet Ethernet Fibre From the instrument to the published product: each band is a tier, each connector names its interface, and the numbers match the bill of materials. Hover or focus a block to trace its path; scroll or step to follow one observation. | Item | Equipment | Data ports | Protocols | Power in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 01 | **Air quality monitor** Particulate and gas monitor (PM, NO2, O3, CO, SO2) for outdoor or indoor air. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC | | 02 | **Acoustic sensor** Sound level meter, acoustic event detector or infrasound array element. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC | | 03 | **Compact weather station** All-in-one or compact station for temperature, humidity, pressure, wind and rain at a site. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC | | 04 | **LPWAN endpoint** Battery-powered endpoint on LoRaWAN, NB-IoT or LTE-M that carries one or more sensors. | Analogue I/OSDI-12RS-485 | LoRaWAN, OMA LwM2M, CoAP | Internal battery, Energy harvesting | | 05 | **LoRaWAN gateway** Multi-channel LoRaWAN gateway that forwards uplinks to a network server and schedules downlinks within duty limits. | EthernetRFGNSS antenna | LoRaWAN, MQTT 5 | PoE, 12 V DC | | 06 | **Edge node (Wedge)** Rugged edge node that boots from signed media, attests itself and establishes a site cell from little or no infrastructure. | EthernetFibreUSBRS-485BMC | MQTT 5, DMTF Redfish, IEEE 1588 PTP, NTP with NTS, OPC UA | 12 V DC, 24 V DC, 48 V DC, AC mains | | 07 | **Fibre terminal** Optical network terminal or media converter that lands fibre backhaul at a site. | FibreEthernet | IEEE 1588 PTP | 12 V DC, 48 V DC, AC mains | How it scales 01 Instruments Arbitrary qualified sensors and instruments whosemeasurements are ingested with calibration, units,geometry, time, custody and uncertainty. ×n 02 Node The minimum useful deployable unit: server, ruggedappliance, radio node, sensor gateway, satelliteterminal, AI, scientific, vehicle or virtual node. Node Node agent 03 Site The minimum independently operable localgovernance and failure domain: one or more nodesplus local network, identity, policy, evidence,storage, products and operator surfaces. SITE Node Node Node ×n 04 Cluster An optional scale or specialisation domain forscheduling, shared storage, accelerators or datalocality. CLUSTER ×n 05 Fleet Coordinates plans, acknowledgements,convergence evidence, update campaigns andcorrection propagation across nodes and sites. FLEET Fleet controller ×n 06 Federation An exchange of products, capabilities, events orwork across approved, independently administeredtrust domains, using explicit trust, policy,data-locality, version and correction contracts. TRUST DOMAIN TRUST DOMAIN TRUST DOMAIN ×n Verifier Applications Data in the field Telemetry Control Data upstream Control Data upstream Control Exchange Evidence Events Exchange The smallest deployable unit is one node; the same unit is replicated to meet the demand. Nodes form a site, sites may form a cluster, sites and clusters are coordinated as a fleet, and fleets exchange across independently administered trust domains. Each plane is a separate channel with its own open binding. **Data in the field**: MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B; connectors for LoRaWAN, OPC UA and instrument buses. **Telemetry**: OpenTelemetry OTLP. **Control**: TLS 1.3 with mutual authentication; protobuf messages over gRPC or HTTP/2. **Data upstream**: At-least-once publication with repeat-safe keys over the control channel or NATS JetStream; QUIC MAY be used on lossy links. **Evidence**: DSSE-signed in-toto statements; SLSA provenance; SCITT transparency receipts. **Events**: Event envelopes mapped to CloudEvents 1.0; channels described in AsyncAPI 3. **Exchange**: OpenAPI 3.1; the OGC API family; SensorThings; STAC; WIS 2.0. **05** From order to operation ## Every step, from the first call to a running site. The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance. 1. 01 Order Scope the exposure risks The scope reads the plant's risk assessments, past surveys, processes and the workers most exposed. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the sensor and wearable plan, the measurement strategy design and a price per plant and per year. The scope is agreed before any site work begins. 1 2. 02 Survey Survey work areas Crews survey work areas with health and safety staff: sources, extraction, noisy machines, hot areas and where people spend their shifts. Similar exposure groups are defined for the measurement strategy. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built. 1 3. 03 Permits Consultation and privacy Workers and their representatives are consulted, wearables measure exposure and not individual performance, and privacy rules for personal data are agreed. Every agreement is kept with the plant record. No crew goes to site before its approvals are in place. 4. 04 Build Build and calibrate Dust, gas, noise and heat sensors are calibrated against references, radios paired, the gateway and node configured with limits and action values and enrolled with their identities. Everything is tested together before shipping. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together. 5. 05 Install Install across the floor Crews mount sensors at work areas and sources, set up the gateway and node, and issue wearables to representative workers. Every point is photographed and mapped to its work area. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work. The site record is updated before the crew leaves. 6. 06 Commission Commission against a survey Each node proves its identity. Fixed and wearable readings are compared with a standard occupational hygiene survey over representative shifts, and alerts are tested with the health and safety team. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. Results are signed and kept with the site record. 14 7. 07 Operate Keep exposure below limits Health and safety teams see exposure by area and shift. Failing extraction is fixed the day dust rises, noise areas are marked and controlled, heat alerts bring rest breaks, and records go to occupational health. Every alert and action is kept on the record. 32 8. 08 Maintain Recalibrate and reassess Sensors are recalibrated on the agreed plan, wearables rotated through representative workers, the measurement strategy reviewed after process changes, and software updated in rings. Every change is kept with the plant record. Maintenance history stays with each site for its whole life. 1 **06** Data products and integration ## What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems. Data products - **Exposure by area and shift** Health and safety teams - **Extraction failure alerts** Maintenance teams - **Heat stress alerts** Supervisors and workers - **Exposure records** Occupational health services and inspectors Integration - **Health and safety system** Exposure records join the plant's safety management system. - **Maintenance** Extraction failures open work orders. - **Occupational health** Records are shared with occupational health under privacy rules. Exchanged through OGC SensorThings API, MQTT, LoRaWAN. **07** Questions buyers ask ## Before you scope it. Does it replace hygiene surveys? No. Surveys validate it; sensing covers every shift between them. Will it monitor individuals? Wearables measure exposure for groups, under agreed privacy rules. Can it find failing extraction? Rising dust near a source flags it the same day. Does it cover heat? Yes, with the standard heat stress index. **08** Resources ## The sources behind this page. Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does. 1. **1** [EN 689: Workplace exposure, measurement of exposure by inhalation to chemical agents, strategy for testing compliance with occupational exposure limit values](https://www.cencenelec.eu/) European Committee for Standardization 2. **2** [Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxic substances at work](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/) European Union · 2004 3. **3** [Directive 2003/10/EC on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to noise](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/) European Union · 2003 4. **4** [ISO 7243: Ergonomics of the thermal environment, assessment of heat stress using the WBGT index](https://www.iso.org/) International Organization for Standardization · 2017 **09** Related ## Use cases and solutions. [Use case Hybrid air-quality observatoryA few reference analysers and many low-cost nodes, with co-location calibration and an open-data feed.The full use case →](https://observatory.global/use-cases/hybrid-air-quality/) [Solution Mine, plant and port site monitoringSlope radar, tailings monitoring, dust and water, and site connectivity for operations and closure.Solutions for industry →](https://observatory.global/industries/industry/solutions/#industrial-site-monitoring) [Solution Environmental exposure monitoring for health programmesHeat, air and water exposure measurements around facilities and communities; no diagnosis or treatment.Solutions for industry →](https://observatory.global/industries/industry/solutions/#exposure-monitoring) [Solution Sensing as a ServiceObservation networks designed, installed, operated and maintained for a monthly fee: weather, hydromet, air, seismic and environmental stations, with data delivered under a licence.Solutions for industry →](https://observatory.global/industries/industry/solutions/#sensing-service) **10** Industry: specialized fields ## Other fields of this industry. [Specialized field Chemical and process plantsGas detection, stack emissions, thermal imaging and site weather at chemical and process plants, joined in one record for safety, environmental permits and the people living nearby.The full field →](https://observatory.global/industries/industry/process-plants/) [Specialized field Machine condition monitoringVibration, temperature and power sensing on pumps, motors, fans, compressors and conveyors, analysed at the edge so maintenance teams fix machines before they fail.The full field →](https://observatory.global/industries/industry/machine-condition/) [Specialized field Factory energy managementMetering of electricity, gas, steam, compressed air and water by line and machine, so factories cut energy use, prove savings and meet energy audit and management duties.The full field →](https://observatory.global/industries/industry/energy-management/) ### Bring us the site. 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