Mild steel welding

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cappers

cappers

Well-Known Member
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Working in a university, the emphasis on health & safety is paramount.
Received this today and thought it may be of interest here as many of you do welding.
Apologies in advance if this is old hat, grandma + eggs etc.
capo

Safety Information Bulletin
Keywords: Mild steel welding fume
Date: 21st March 2019
Number: G.02.19
Circulation
Technical Managers
OSAHS Hub Managers
Changes regarding the risk of mild steel welding
What has changed?
There is new research that links exposure to mild steel welding fume with lung cancer, and a possible link with kidney cancer. The HSE has issued information concerning the safety measures for welding and has updated its enforcement strategy accordingly.
When welding indoors, LEV should be used to control exposure to the welding fume. General ventilation is not sufficient. If the LEV does not provide adequate control of the fumes, then RPE should be used as well. However, RPE must correctly fit the wearer and must be worn correctly. It must also be subject to regular condition checks.
What do I need to do?
  • Review risk assessments for your welding activities
  • Check that LEV is used for welding
  • Check that the LEV provided is working effectively. You can do this by reviewing your LEV statutory inspection report and LEV log book
  • Provide RPE if additional controls are needed
  • Provide staff with this information regarding the new research about mild steel welding.
If you have any questions about this safety information bulletin, please contact Occupational Safety and Health Services
Glossary:
HSE – Health and Safety Executive
LEV – Local Exhaust Ventilation
RPE – Respiratory Protective Equipment e.g. a tight fitting mask
 
capo said:
Working in a university, the emphasis on health & safety is paramount.
Received this today and thought it may be of interest here as many of you do welding.
Apologies in advance if this is old hat, grandma + eggs etc.
capo

Safety Information Bulletin
Keywords: Mild steel welding fume
Date: 21st March 2019
Number: G.02.19
Circulation
Technical Managers
OSAHS Hub Managers
Changes regarding the risk of mild steel welding
What has changed?
There is new research that links exposure to mild steel welding fume with lung cancer, and a possible link with kidney cancer. The HSE has issued information concerning the safety measures for welding and has updated its enforcement strategy accordingly.
When welding indoors, LEV should be used to control exposure to the welding fume. General ventilation is not sufficient. If the LEV does not provide adequate control of the fumes, then RPE should be used as well. However, RPE must correctly fit the wearer and must be worn correctly. It must also be subject to regular condition checks.
What do I need to do?
  • Review risk assessments for your welding activities
  • Check that LEV is used for welding
  • Check that the LEV provided is working effectively. You can do this by reviewing your LEV statutory inspection report and LEV log book
  • Provide RPE if additional controls are needed
  • Provide staff with this information regarding the new research about mild steel welding.
If you have any questions about this safety information bulletin, please contact Occupational Safety and Health Services
Glossary:
HSE – Health and Safety Executive
LEV – Local Exhaust Ventilation
RPE – Respiratory Protective Equipment e.g. a tight fitting mask
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that. I'm new to it and will pay heed.
 
The fumes carry nano sized ultrafine particles (UFP) with diameters below 100nm (ten thousandth of a millimetre, about the size of a virus). These get right into the lungs and can cross into the bloodstream and thus organs and tissues.

Fumes from non-alloyed and low-alloyed steels can contain iron oxide, silicon oxide, potassium oxide, manganese oxide, sodium oxide, titanium oxide, aluminium oxide, calcium oxide and fluoride.

Highly-alloyed covered rod electrodes are the most hazardous due to chromium/nickel steel particles. The rods contain up to 20% chromium and up to 30% nickel in the core wire. Fumes can contain up to 16% chromium compounds, 90% of which are chromium VI compounds and they are classified as cancerous. Nickel oxides are classified as cancerous Category 1 substances, and it has been demonstrated that they can cause cancer.

Be careful out there...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026265X17302515
https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/56/5/557/160111
https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/57/3/305/231025

(Sorry for the lecture; I'm meant to be retiring from academia in July but I just can't help myself.......:rolleyes: I'm actually a bacteriologist but I have done some work on air pollution issues too - carriage of microbes on airborne dust)
 
any of the guys that weld in a work environment will / should already be aware of this, but good to bring it up for the 100's of DIY boys who might never have heard anything about welding fumes.
They really are quite nasty, even in small amounts.

Well worth buying a decent mask and filter.
Boys I work with use a Sundstrom SR100, but any make mask should be OK, as long as it meet certain criteria:

The important bit is that it provides a tight seal on the face - clean shaven.!
Easy way to test this is to put the mask on and breath in while blocking the inlet - the mask should suck onto the face with no air being sucked in round the seal.
Also the filter must be a minimum of P3 rated or a combination filter including P3 class.

A good combi filter will protect from paint fumes, welding fumes, asbestos etc. so really useful.
The sundstrom combi filter is good for about 50hrs of wearing time before it needs changing - that's a fair bit of welding / painting.

Any ex-squaddies will probably have an S10 lying around somewhere, which would do the job too ;)
Just clean the CS out first or your welding will look crap.
 
Probably too late for me, I've been welding vehicles for years and only recently bought a mask :eek:
To the OP, thanks for bringing it to our attention.
I have always had the door open or ventilation because it doesn't take a genius to know its not good for you lol I just wasn't aware that it was not enough.
 
My Old Landy said:
To the OP, thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Click to expand...
I know that H&S can be a trial, common sense etc. but our understanding of these things grows all the time, so our approach to dealing with these hazards evolve. I don't weld but have watched it being done, and although aware of the UV light issue, never thought about fumes bar they're a nuisance. I assume that's the same for most DIY welders...

MrsC worked for several years back in the late 80s with polyester resins and ultra fine metal powders; she wore dust masks but there was little out there about the fumes from the methyl ethyl ketone peroxide catalyst and curing polyester, specifically styrene fumes. I do not consider it a coincidence that she developed asthma after working with resins and metal dusts.
 
I saw that article and it made me think that there is some ar$e out there trying to make something out of nothing.
Of course welding is dangerous in many regards. But its not like a hobbyist is running 10 miles of weld-beads every day while snorting in the fumes for fun, now is it?
A modicum of common sense & proportion if you please.
My mate a 40+ year veteran in the trade says its a load of tosh and as long as you have good fume extraction or work in a non-confined space there is little to concern you as a hobbyist repair person.
 
DanClarke said:
........made me think that there is some ar$e out there trying to make something out of nothing...........A modicum of common sense & proportion if you please.................... as long as you have good fume extraction or work in a non-confined space there is little to concern you as a hobbyist repair person.
Click to expand...

True, but as I stated this is a university H&S memo and there is a legal obligation to ensure current H&S guidance and advise is acted upon, ditto for any company that does welding.
DIY/hobbyist welders will have much lower exposure rates than pros but it is still worth bearing in mind that there should be adequate ventilation. Exposure to some of these compounds is known to be dangerous, despite what a 40+ year veteran might say. Knowledge of hazard and risk can't be a bad thing.
 
Can you get masks with a hole in for your pipe or fag. It’s such a waste when a good ark is ideal for sparking up.
 
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