EDITOR’S CHOICE
SAFETY MANAGEMENT
KORA 3D
HSE REPORT RAISES CONCERNS
OVER 3D PRINTER SAFETY
Kora 3D, one of the UK’s leading
manufacturers of FFF/FDM style desktop 3D
printers, has developed a unique universal
safety cabinet to protect 3D printer users,
following the release of a Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) report which found that
the printers can create harmful emissions,
potentially endangering users.
The use of Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF)
and Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D
printers has grown rapidly in recent years,
however concerns have consistently been
raised over the safe use of the products and
their impact on surrounding air quality.
Concerned about the unregulated nature
of 3D printer use, in 2015 the HSE formed
a working group including HSE scientific
and regulatory staff, Kora 3D and the British
Standards Institute to identify the risks and
to develop a series of good practice guides
for the safe use of FFF/FDM style desktop 3D
printers.
Kora 3D committed to working with the
HSE to investigate the risks, making the
commitment to suspend sales of its own FFF/
FDM style 3D printers until the research was
complete.
The HSE has now released its report
Measuring and Controlling Emissions from
Desktop 3D Printers which found that the
3D printers emitted many particles of a
size range that could potentially enter the
airways and lungs. The report also found that
‘emissions from FFF 3D printers are likely to
be released into the general environment
because many desktop printers have no form
of control or particle capture.’
Worryingly, the HSE’s research also found
that some of the plastic filament materials
used in the 3D printers were found to release
vapours known to be hazardous to health
when heated. During testing, the HSE found
that placing the desktop 3D printer inside
an enclosing hood with filtered ventilation
reduced particle emission rates by 97 per
cent.
Businesses using 3D printers without
adhering to new guidance could find
themselves in contravention of Provision and
Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
(PUWER), Control of Substances Hazardous
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PECM Issue 39
to Health (COSHH) guidelines and the HSE’s
‘Management of Health and Safety at Work’
code of practice.
In line with the recommendations from
the HSE, Kora 3D’s talented team of
engineers have developed the universal
and economical Kora SC-01 Safety Cabinet,
designed to fit most standard sized FFF/FDM
style desktop 3D printers. It uses a specialist
filter cartridge at the top of the cabinet to
draw clean air from the area in which it is
situated and to remove potentially harmful
emissions. The SC-01 is, to date, the only FFF/
FDM style 3D printer safety cabinet to have
been officially tested by the HSE’s specialist
Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL).
Steve Burrows, Managing Director of Kora
3D, said: “It’s clear that FFF/FDM style
3D printing is a growing sector and one
which offers fantastic benefits to business.
However, our four-year study alongside the
HSE has confirmed the importance of having
a greater understanding of the equipment
and the need to pay more attention to safety
management. It was a huge commitment
and a risky commercial decision to cease
sales of our FFF/FDM style 3D printers.
However, we strongly believed that although
FFF/FDM style 3D printing delivers huge
benefits, not enough had been done until
now to investigate the potential risk to users
and bystanders.
“At the heart of Kora 3D is a real passion for
problem solving, so our talented team has
worked closely with the HSE to develop
a product which finally makes FFF/FDM
style 3D printing safe. As the only company
currently with an HSE/HSL tested product,
we believe we are now in a very strong
commercial position to ambitiously grow our
business.”
www.kora3d.com