With the advent of new Health and Safety regulations throughout the European Community, requiring more stringent attention to employee health care, the UK Crown Records Departments have taken a lead in setting specific operator safety requirements in conservation of documents.

The choice of mobile workstation, as opposed to a fixed unit with ductwork, appealed to restoration staff, because , when performing preliminary inspections, they would be able to move the unit to the required location and undertake these procedures in a safer environment. With all the air fully filtered and recycled by this unit, expensive fixed installations involving heating or air conditioning are avoided. With the station providing some filtration to the surrounding air also, further contamination of other papers by liberated spores can be reduced.

Air is extracted from around the work surface, via low level gullies situated on either side, and by three air suction walls. These air paths provide a containment airflow that will entrain any particles present during conservation procedures.

Larger debris falls into removable dust trays on either end of the work area, these are easily removable for regular cleaning.

The smaller airborne particles, having been removed from the work area, are trapped on a pre-filter (95% efficient @ 5 microns) and HEPA filter (99.997% efficient @ 0.3 microns). Located beneath the work top, these filters are accessed by removing the stainless steel top with the handles provided. Each unit is smoke tested, to check the airflow, and DOP tested to ensure that no leaks exist on the HEPA filter or around the seals.

The unit shown is of the following dimensions:
Overall size: 1050 mm wide x 665 deep x 1015 high
Work area: 780 mm x 493 deep
Large documents up to 560 mm deep can be accommodated.

The photo on the right shows the advantage of having a mobile work station. The unit can be moved to the required storage point, and the necessary inspection procedure carried out in situ in contaminant free air.