health & safety alert

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 HEALTH & SAFETY ALERT Change in enforcement expectations for welding fume (including mild steel) Following new scientific evidence (from the International Agency for Research on Cancer) that exposure to all welding fumes, including that from mild steel, can cause lung cancer and possibly kidney cancer, the Workplace Health Expert Committee of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has endorsed the reclassification of welding fume as a human carcinogen, and the HSE have issued a Safety Alert for welding fume that includes mild steel welding. With immediate effect, there is a strengthening of the HSE’s enforcement expectation for all welding fume, including mild steel welding; general ventilation does not achieve the necessary control. Furthermore, as there is no known level of safe exposure, the HSE will no longer accept any welding undertaken without suitable exposure control measures in place. Exposure to any welding fume released must be adequately controlled using engineering controls (e.g. local exhaust ventilation). Suitable controls must be in place for all welding activities, regardless of duration and location and where engineering controls alone cannot control exposure, then adequate and suitable respiratory protective equipment (RPE) must be provided to control risks from any residual fume, and users must be suitably instructed and trained. Where a person is required to wear tight fitting RPE, it must be face fit tested by a trained tester and the wearer must be trained in the use of the RPE being worn. What action needs to be taken and by whom? Project Managers – Ensure this alert is communicated to, and understood by, your teams, as appropriate. Construction Managers/Site Supervisors – check that risk assessments, method statements and permits reflect the changes and that any necessary exclusion zones are in place. Everyone – Do not enter an exclusion zone unless authorized to do so and always try to position yourself upwind of welding and hot-works activities. If you have a concern, stop the works and refer the matter to your supervisor or manager. References: • http://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/index.htm • http://www.hse.gov.uk/welding/fume-welding.htm • http://www.hse.gov.uk/respiratory-protective-equipment/faq.htm

5th March 2019