You should look at ways of limiting the amount of dust you could make before you start work. For example you could:
Use the right size of building materials so less cutting or preparation is needed
Use a less powerful tool – e.g. a block splitter can sometime be used instead of a cut-off saw - See [Block splitting ](http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/healthrisks/coh09.pdf)
Using a different method of work altogether – e.g. using a nail gun to direct fasten cable trays instead of drilling holes first
Even if you can stop some of the dust this way you may need to do other work that could still produce high amounts of dust. In these cases the most important thing is to stop the dust getting into the air. There are two main ways of doing this which both give very good results:
Water – water damps down dust clouds. However, it needs to be used correctly. This means enough water for the whole time that the work is being done. Just wetting an area of ground before cutting does not work. (see also [Time to clear the air! Using cut-off saws for cutting kerbs and flag paving](http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cleartheair/index.htm))
Vacuum Extraction – Specially designed tools can be fitted with an industrial vacuum unit that sucks the dust away as it is being created and stores it until emptied (see also [Controlling dust during the refurbishment and extension of occupied premises ](http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/healthrisks/coh15.pdf) ).