Manor High School

COSSH Compliant Woodworking Department

Manor High School is located in Oadby, Leicester, home town of Dustraction. The school has won the Healthy Schools Award which is one of the driving forces behind dealing with new COSHH regulations in conjunction with Dustraction to further improve monitoring of LEV (Local Exhaust Ventilation) at individual wood and panel working machine hoods in the school’s Design Technology Department.

Manor High School gained specialist Technology School status which has helped generate additional funding to develop an alternative curriculum for less academic pupils. The Design Technology department is working to promote opportunities for adult learning and is also developing business links from within the curriculum.

Machines on-site include a bandsaw, a lathe disc sander, a tilting arbor bench saw and a belt sander, all for use in the design and making by students of everything from chess and other complex board games to ‘moving’ animal figures and bird boxes.

Dustrax Filter Unit Installed

Dustraction has installed a new LCC Dustrax 15M filter unit together with new ducting as needed after a COSHH LEV re-test to ensure compliance of individual machine hoods and the installation as necessary of pressure gauges to monitor extraction performance machine by machine.

Individual gauges at each machine hood allow constant monitoring to establish the correct pressure range and to ensure that indicated flows are achieved and maintained. Dustraction’s gauges are ideal instruments for the purpose with faces printed with simple red and green markings to provide an easy-to-read measurement of extraction performance that can be easily maintained.

Existing ductwork was re-used wherever possible at Manor High School and additional Class A standard ducting was also used to facilitate the remodelling of the Design Technology Department in a move to separate and isolate IT from wood and panel working functions.

Dustraction’s new extraction layout is of ‘aerodynamic design’ and individual suction ducts join the main ducting run at acute new angle joins on tapered sections for a rigid and effective, vibration-free installation overall.