AMSJ » Mideco’s Bat Booth™ helps to fight ‘black lung’ disease.
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Mideco’s Bat Booth™ helps to fight ‘black lung’ disease.

According to Cancer Council Australia it is estimated that 230 people develop lung cancer each year as a result of past exposure to silica dust at work.

Mining, maintenance or processing activities can result in the release of dust particles into the air. Exposure to dust in mining and quarrying continues to be a major risk to the health of workers as it can lead to a range of serious lung diseases including silicosis, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.

In Queensland with almost 30,000 staff working across 50 operating mines this is a particularly relevant issue.  The well-known Report No. 2, issued by the 55th Parliament Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Select Committee on re-identification of CWP in Queensland, confirmed 21 coal mine workers in the state have been diagnosed with Pneumoconiosis or ‘black lung’ disease as of 29 May 2017.  The black lung disease develops over many years of being exposed to coal dust and permanently damages the pockets of lung tissue.

However, this terrible disease can be prevented through appropriate dust control, adequate ventilation or personal respiratory protection.

Mideco’s Bat Booth™ was created specifically to protect your most precious resource, people, from the harmful effects of silica dust. This personnel de-dusting booth equipped with high specification HEPA filters can help permanently remove up to 80% of dust from workers clothes in seconds.

Its design is simple but effective. Bat Booth™ uses compressed air to blow dust off contaminated clothing; the dust then is captured and contained via a dust filtering system. The process takes only 10 – 12 seconds and tests have shown a 50% improvement in dust removed from clothes over other methods.

Bat Booth™ doesn’t require complicated installation and won’t slow down your work.  This standalone unit comes assembled on a skid base and is operational almost immediately as all that’s required is compressed air and a power connection. Once on site it can be used multiple times per day. It’s perfect for quarries, mines or any commercial environment where dust contamination poses a health hazard.

“We are very pleased with Bat Booth™”, says Amerie Jackson, Boral Narangba and Petrie sites Project Coordinator. “Especially since it allows to avoid any contact with dust after the shifts and saves us plenty of time”.

Bat Booth™ also comes with self-diagnostics full engineering support and undergoes regular maintenance. Mideco engineers check the filters four times a year to ensure high level of dust removal and capture throughout the operating cycle.

After being launched in 2014 Mideco’s Bat Booth™ has been helping businesses take care of their staff and environment in many locations in Australia and around the world. It is currently installed in America and Canada and in Australia is used at Karreman Quarries, Holcim, Glencore and Boral sites amongst others. Mideco’s Bat Booth™ even helps to keep the radioactive dust at bay at BHPB Olympic Dam, uranium mine. We are able to customise our dust solutions to any client and application, no matter how challenging or complex they might be.

All Mideco’s clients have been impressed with this technology that combines simplicity of design with high efficiency. Our new client The Heritage Stoneworks that borrowed Bat Booth™ to maintain air quality during stone masonry ended up not only keeping it but buying an extra unit. Another client, The Fulton Hogan Quarry, gave Bat Booth™ to its workers as a Christmas gift.

Mideco’s Bat Booth™ has been generating lots of interest at industry events here and overseas. In Australia it won “Highly Commended” award in the category of “Best Practice in Work Health & Safety” at the “Australian Bulk Handling Award” in Sydney in 2016.

Overseas Bat Booth™ has been included in the Dust Control Handbook produced by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). It was presented as one of the best examples of removing dust from personnel uniforms thus helping prevent dust related diseases, in particular those caused by silica exposure.

Here at Mideco we are proud to be an Australian own business that makes such a difference. Mideco’s Bat Booth™ can help bring the terrible “black lung” statistics down and take care not only of your staff and your business but also the environment.