The association has been formed by manufacturers and designers of dust and fume extraction systems to ensure best practice and to support the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) in its task of reducing the impact of poor work practices.
The EMADA says that UK industry is responsible for 12,000 workplace related respiratory deaths every year. This statistic, it adds, is also responsible for over 400,000 lost working days every year and there is approximately 14,000 new workplace breathing or lung related conditions reported every year.
It will collaborate with industry, the HSE and other bodies to ensure best practice is maintained and that future legislation is evolved through the support of industry experts to meet the ever changing demands of the workplace. EMADA is aiming to reduce the toll of illnesses and deaths through work related respiratory issues.
At the launch event, EMADA association chairman Paul Rowlands said: "By forming this association, we are creating a conduit between the industry experts and the HSE.
“There is already a good level of regulation and guidance from the HSE, but there remain opportunities for improvement in many systems and their application. Lung latency is a ‘long term’ workplace accident and EMADA is taking a moral imperative to push best practice to industry.
“The statistics around workplace lung health are staggering and if the issue is not addressed it will place a burden of an extra £1 billion each year on the NHS within the next 20 years. This is not a legacy issue but a real time concern we must all address.”
The EMADA is welcoming applications for membership from extraction manufacturers and designers.
