HEALTH & SAFETY WELDING FUME EXTRACTION When it comes to fume extraction, there


are a lot of reservations and even false information around. Welders are reluctant to try out special welding fume extraction torches because they imagine these will be heavy and unwieldy, only allowing poor accessibility to the weld seam. In reality, technology is now so far advanced that individual manufacturers supply extraction torches that are almost identical to handle as comparable standard welding torches.


T


he development of technical solutions to reduce welding fume emissions is evident, as is the


development of extraction solutions. There is a large range of extraction technology solutions on the market, and advanced developments are coming along in leaps and bounds. We speak to Binzel Abicor for an idea of the current status quo so that you can find the extraction technology solution best suited to your needs. Over the past few years, health and


safety issues have become more and more important. Scientific studies and findings about the effect of welding fumes on health have led to legal regulations and limit values being adapted. And, we can expect the health and safety requirements to be made even more stringent globally. Now is the time to adapt welding production to protect welders and all those working in their


direct vicinity from harmful fumes. Fume extraction is the term used for


the elimination of fumes – caused either by welding, cutting or grinding – from the work area to keep them from being inhaled by workers even at workstations further away in the production hall. During welding, components form an inseparable joint through the application of heat with or without filler materials. During this process, fumes are released mainly from the filler material used, but sometimes also due to chemical reactions. Some fumes are clearly visible,


others cannot be seen by the human eye. However, the fact that they cannot be seen doesn’t make them less hazardous. This distinction becomes very clear during MIG/MAG welding and TIG welding: whereas a relatively large amount of fumes is produced during MIG/MAG welding, the less visible to invisible fumes produced during the TIG welding of stainless steels, for example, are extremely carcinogenic. Welding parameters, wire, gas, base material and filler materials all impact the quantity and exposure of fumes during welding. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter


whether the fumes are visible or not. It is essential to protect workers from inhaling these harmful welding fumes. In principle, fume extraction is required


wherever welding work of any kind is being done. This can be during college training to become a welding expert, minor welding work in a repair workshop or in a large manufacturing company with lots of welding workstations. There are large and small, simple and complex fume extraction solutions for every application, to remove hazardous welding fumes from the working environment.


Metals


An often-asked question is if the type of metals being welded is important. The brief answer to this is: yes, it does matter. Every metal releases different pollutants to the atmosphere during welding.


Stainless steel Metals like stainless steel or high-alloy steel


– which contain iron, chrome, nickel and manganese – develop extremely harmful welding fumes. A suitable system for proper fume extraction is always necessary in this case, so that these pollutants are collected safely and can be disposed of properly and in line with requirements.


Hexavalent chrome


Anything involving chrome or nickel extraction must be IFA-W3 certified. Hexavalent chrome in particular (usually referred to as Cr-VI) is very harmful. It is present in all stainless steel and is a known cause of cancer according to a wide range of scientific research. For this reason, it is mandatory to use an extraction system with W3-certified filter that can eliminate these harmful particles when the CrNi content is above 30%.


www.awd.org.uk WeldingWorld1 / 35


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