Typical project scenario
Warehouse Concrete Grinding — Dust-Free Surface Prep
Concrete grinding · Houston, TX
A 60,000-square-foot active distribution warehouse needed a polished-concrete floor refresh without disrupting forklift traffic. HireAVac paired a Dirt Eater Big Boss HEPA unit with the contractor's 30" planetary grinder for OSHA 1910.1053 Table 1 silica compliance through a 10-hour shift.
Challenge
The client's distribution center ran two-shift forklift operations through Bay 4, where the polish work was happening. Any visible dust plume would have shut down the bay and triggered safety stand-downs at the adjacent racking. Air monitoring done at project kickoff showed the contractor's existing dust extractor was barely keeping respirable crystalline silica below the OSHA Action Level — and that was on a smaller test slab, not the 30" production grinder they planned to use. Layered on top: zero space for filter changeouts inside the active bay, and a hard 7 AM start with the grinder hitting the floor on time.
Solution
HireAVac delivered the Dirt Eater Big Boss the evening before, staged in the loading dock with the operator briefing complete by 6:45 AM. We pre-installed a drop-in cyclone pre-separator so the H13 cartridge would survive the full 3-day production run without changeouts inside the work zone. Hose was sized at 3" to match the 500-CFM demand of the 30" planetary, eliminating the leakage we'd seen at the shroud during commissioning. Daily filter visual checks were logged for the GC's safety binder. A second HEPA unit was kept on standby at our Houston yard for emergency swap-out — never needed.
Results
- Silica exposure (TWA)
- 22 µg/m³ — below OSHA Action Level (25)
- Visible dust outside work zone
- None across 3 production days
- Forklift bay shutdowns
- Zero
- Filter changeouts in work zone
- Zero (cyclone pre-separator)
- Crew downtime
- <15 minutes per shift (operator-only)
Note: This is a typical project scenario, not a specific named customer. Verified customer case studies are labeled and only published with documented permission.
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