Powered Wall and Ceiling Sander with Vacuum Dust Control

The powered wall and ceiling sander with a vacuum attachment is used to flush drywall joints, seams, and screw holes after mud has dried, and smooth and prepare paint and other surfaces.  The vacuum attachment collects dust product by the tool at its source. The pole or handle helps position the sander at an optimal position for the worker.

Risks Addressed:

Dry manual (hand) sanding drywall joints, painted and other wall and ceiling surfaces can generate levels of total and respirable dust that exceed recommended limits. Joint compounds and paints that contain silica can also result in exposures to levels of respirable crystalline silica that may exceed NIOSH recommended exposure limits. Manual sanding can lead to musculoskeletal (MSDs) injuries.

Manual sanding requires stressful hand and wrist exertions. Stressful hand and wrist activities can cause muscle strains; tendonitis, which is inflammation of elbow and wrist tendons; or carpal tunnel syndrome, which is compression of a wrist nerve, resulting in finger numbness and loss of hand strength. Sanding ceilings requires overhead work. Overhead work can cause shoulder muscle strains; tendonitis, which is inflammation of the tendons; or rotator cuff tears, which is a rupture of a shoulder tendon.

Inhaling dust can cause irritation and over the long term cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Silica dust may cause silicosis or lung scarring with prolonged exposure. Silicosis is an incurable, sometimes fatal, disease. Exposure to silica also causes lung cancer and other lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and tuberculosis, and has been linked to renal disease and rheumatoid arthritis. A  NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE), for example,  found that drywall sanders were exposed to as much as 10 times the permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 15 mg/m3 for total dust set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The OSHA PEL for respirable dust (5 mg/m3), the very small particles that can go deep into the lungs, was also exceeded. Another NIOSH study of sanding systems at the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades (IBPAT) Apprenticeship Training Facility in Seattle, Washington found that the vacuum sanding controls reviewed "successfully reduced dust exposures by 80% to 97%. Four of the five sanding controls cut exposures by nearly 95%."

How Risks are Reduced:

A powered drywall sander with a pole or adjustable handle and a vacuum attachment captures dust at the source. The pole or handle extension moves the source of the dust further away from the the worker's breathing zone. The pole or handle attaches to a harness for reduced overhead work. 

Availability

Festool, Planex LHS 225 Drywall Sander
To obtain information, visit http://www.festoolusa.com or contact 1-888-337-8600

Hyde Dust-free Vacuum Pole Sander (with pole)
To obtain information, visit http://www.hydetools.com or contact 1-800-872-4933

Dustless Turbo Drywall Sander and Wet/Dry Vacuum
To obtain information, visit Turbo Drywall Sander and HEPA Wet/Dry Vacuum or contact 1-435-637-5885

Porter Cable Drywall Sander with Dust Collection 7800
To obtain information, visit http://www.portercable.com or contact 1-888-848-5175