HEALTH & SAFETY
THE HSE STEP UP THEIR GAME
EXTRACTABILITY
COULD YOU BE NEXT?
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE HSE LETTER ARRIVES
It has been nearly a full year after the change
in health and safety guidance for all welding
fume, including mild steel welding, and the
HSE have increased their field presence in the
industrial world. In fact, they could soon be
paying you a visit.
The HSE have begun conducting visits to
sites where welding is being carried out,
along with any other business where fumes,
dusts, vapours or small fibres considered
detrimental to human health might be
present or created. This is being done with
little to no prior warning of appointment date
and time but is proceeded by mandatory
form requiring the business to state the
effectiveness of their fume control measures.
Any and all businesses with insufficient
fume control measures could be issued
improvement notices, enforcement orders
or fines. They even have the power to issue
prohibition notices and stop the practise
of welding processes being carried out.
There is no window of leniency; businesses
are expected to have already tackled this
problem.
68
PECM Issue 42
Compliance with the Health and Safety at
Work Act 1974 and the Control of Substances
Hazardous to Health Regulations Act 2002
means, in part, accepting that opening a
window or relying on general ventilation is
inadequate in terms of welding fume control.
Similarly, welding outside will require at the
very least, suitable respiratory protection
equipment (RPE). A quick and easy solution
for the business unsure of the effectiveness
of their current fume extraction is the
introduction of PAPR, air fed, welding helmets.
These lightweight power air-purification
respirator (PAPR) units provide a 2-speed
clean air flow of 170lpm or 220lpm and is fully
CE rated to EN 12941 TH2.
It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure
up-to-date fume extraction equipment
is being used correctly. The ProtectoScan
Edi is an indoor Environmental Detection
Instrument (Edi) that measures particulate
levels, records real-time data and can switch
on your fume extraction equipment once
a pre-set level has been detected. Edi has
an LED traffic light display, alerting users to
any notable issues and providing an instant
visual representation of what is going on in
the workshop. Edi will also measure noise,
temperature and humidity and is the perfect
solution for monitoring and recording
exposure levels, every second of the day, 365
days a year.
With the recent Industry 4.0 trend seeing
a greater integration of automation and
data exchange in the manufacturing sector,
the ProtectoScan Edi is Extractability’s
boldest step yet to help employers remove
hazards from the workplace, stay within the
regulations and improve health and safety
among their workforce, creating a safe and
clean workplace environment for everyone.
For more information, an evaluation
to determine if you are compliant,
or to have your current fume
extraction equipment tested, contact
Extractability on 0845 862 2620 or
email [email protected]