An industrial sweeper helps your business save money, improve customer satisfaction and stay within OSHA compliance. Sweepers come in a variety of sizes from quiet walk-behinds to large ride-on machines with a massive appetite for dust.
- Warehouse and distribution centers
- Manufacturing
- Parking lots and parking garages
- Municipalities
- Corporate and college campuses
- Foundries and lumber yards
- Cleaning contractors
- Event and exhibition centers
OSHA’s Silica Dust Compliance Standards
In 2016, OSHA issued two standards on silica dust exposure to curb serious injury and illness in workers caused by respirable crystalline silica. There is one standard for Construction and another for General Industry and Maritime. Under the new rules, general industry employers must cut worker exposure in half, and construction field employers must reduce exposure by 80%.
Both standards went into effect in June 2016. Businesses have one to five years to comply with most requirements depending on their industry:
- Construction - June 23, 2017 (due one year after the effective date).
- General Industry and Maritime - June 23, 2018 (two years after the effective date).
- Hydraulic Fracturing - June 23, 2018, two years after the effective date for all provisions except Engineering Controls, which have a compliance date of June 23, 2021.
Learn more about OSHAs silica dust standards, or read what happened to a concrete manufacturer cited by OSHA for failure to abate / comply.
To help customers adhere to OSHA's standards, we recommend two machines that don't mess around when it comes to dust control. The Advance SW8000 and Advance Proterra.
The Advance SW8000 has the widest main broom in its class (50 inches) and a 77-inch sweep path. Most notably, the SW8000 includes full-time dust controlled dual side brooms. 
What does that mean? With other rider-sweepers, dust is controlled at the main broom only. The side brooms are the biggest source of dust and must be raised in open areas where "fugitive dust" is a concern. The SW8000 uses a five-stage dust control system so the machine can use its dual side brooms all the time.
The Advance dust control system includes:
DustGuard fog system - captures fugitive dust at side broom with a wet mist, reducing airborne dust - exclusive to Advance products .- A vacuumized main broom chamber - Dust kicked up by main broom is captured in a vacuumized chamber sealed by surround skirting.
- Airflow Labyrinth – The incoming airflow makes two abrupt directional changes so 90% of the dust is removed from the air stream before it reaches the dust filter - improving dust control and extending filter life.
- Nanofiber Technology Dust Filter – Any fine dust that doesn't settle in the hopper is filtered out of the air stream by the nanofiber filter.
Read more about how Advance’s silica dust control system works, or check out the video below.
The Advance Proterra has the same dust control system as the SW8000, but is slightly smaller and more maneuverable. The Proterra has a 35.5-inch main broom and 64-inch sweep path. It also includes convenient features for operators including:
- "Analog-logic" controls that simplify operation and reduce training time
- Main broom sweep pressure is set one time, and then the system automatically adjusts to apply consistent pressure even as the brush wears
- Large ergonomic operator area and wide-open sight lines to increase comfort and safety.
Our Best-Selling Industrial Sweepers
Here are our most popular sweepers for a variety of applications:
Cleaning Contractors, Schools, Hotels, Event and Convention Centers
The SW900 is an ideal sweeper to keep busy common areas clean and attractive. This machine is useful for maintaining paved pedestrian surfaces, concrete and asphalt floors. Customers tell us the SW900 is easy to operate and maintain, which helps them stay productive and reduce labor costs.
Warehouse and Distribution, Lumber Yards
Frequent deliveries, forklift and foot traffic make for dusty, dirty conditions in warehouses and shipping areas. Dust and debris are unhealthy for employees and can cause them to waste time dusting or repairing stored commodities that have accumulated debris or dirt.
The SW4000 Rider Sweeper offers high performance for large sweeping applications. Front wheel steering and front wheel drive make this sweeper easy to drive in tight corners and narrow aisles. This machine is designed to handle tens of thousands of square feet and includes a convenient hydraulic high dump.
Parking Lots, Factories, Warehouses, Parking Garages, Foundries
The Advance SW8000, mentioned in the OSHA section above, is our go-to machine for the big jobs. The main broom is the widest in its class and, combined with dual side brooms, offers a 77-inch sweep path.
The Advance Proterra, also mentioned above, is a popular choice for factories, parking garages and foundries. This machine is smaller than the SW8000 with excellent maneuverability and a high-capacity hopper. Operators tell us they like the intuitive controls and the machine’s clear sightline.
Indoor Applications, Anywhere a Small, Quiet Machine is Needed
The Advance Terra 28B walk-behind is one of the quietest sweepers in the industry - rated at 59db, about the same noise level as background music. It has a 28-inch sweep path and a side broom that eliminates the need for edge cleaning after sweeping. It’s compact and light, so even smaller people can use the machine with ease.
In addition to selling the industrial sweepers described above, TMHNC rents sweepers and scrubbers (and sweeper/scrubbers) and sells used industrial floor cleaning equipment. If you have any questions about what industrial sweeper is right for your operation, please let us know.
Further Reading:
- View our inventory of ride-on industrial sweepers
- View our inventory of walk-behind floor and carpet sweepers
- How to choose the right industrial floor scrubber
