The Importance Of Welding Fume Extraction

Welding is a critical component in many industries—from automotive to manufacturing and construction. Using high heat to blend different metals together, an important consequence of welding is the fumes that it generates.

Depending on the metals being welded and the materials used to join these two materials together, welding fumes can be highly dangerous to human health. In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified welding fumes as a cause of lung cancer. However, there are many other health dangers posed, too.

In this article, we explore how welding fumes are generated, what other dangers they hold, why welding fume extraction is important and how to go about doing this effectively for your organisation. Let’s take a closer look.

How are welding fumes generated

The complexity of the welding process cannot be underestimated. While in a general sense, it requires the joining of two or more metals, there are other components involved as well. For example, other characteristics to consider in addition to the types of metals include:

• The non-metallic components such as silicates and fluorides.
• The influence of the welding process, e.g. different types of welding such as MIG welding or TIG welding. This is due to differences in fume compositions as a result of differences in use of filler materials and shielding gases.
• Filler materials and consumables. These may include rods and wires, fluxes etc., which may contain elements of silicon, titanium and aluminium.
• Surface coatings and contaminants such as paint, zinc and others, resulting in the formation of hazardous fumes.
• Variability in fume composition. This means that the composition of welding fumes can be varied even if the same welding process is used. This can be a result of differences in technique, equipment and environmental conditions.

The dangers of welding fumes

Welding fumes often contain tiny particles that are invisible to the naked eye. These can be metallic or otherwise. Often, they are inhaled through the nose or mouth where they can enter the oesophagus and lungs, including cells where oxygen conversion takes place. Therefore, they can be highly harmful to human health. For example, apart from the WHO’s warning that welding fumes can lead to lung cancer (in addition to kidney or urinary tract cancer), there are numerous other health risks in inhaling welding fumes as well. Examples of just some of these health hazards include:

• Metal fume fever with flu-like effects
• Respiratory irritations and diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia
• Neurological effects such as tremors, slow movement and muscle rigidity
• Skin and eye irritation such as dust dermatitis
• Individual susceptibility due to genetic predispositions

Why it’s important to extract welding fumes

With numerous health and safety regulations in place to look after the health and well-being needs of welders and those in a welding environment or facility, many organisations realise that even a gas used in welding, such as MIG welding gas, can be harmful to employees. That’s why it’s essential to extract welding fumes. However, there are several other reasons to do this apart from protecting the health of your workers. Some of these reasons include:

• Protecting worker health
• Complying with health and safety regulations
• Maintaining a productive work environment
• Protecting equipment and reducing maintenance costs

Ways to improve welding safety

While it is clear that protecting worker health and ensuring their safety is critical for both compliance and general obligation reasons, extracting welding fumes from the work environment has never been more important. For this reason, organisations will be well-positioned to ensure that they carry out the following steps to ensure a cleaner work environment through efficient and effective welding fume extraction.

Step 1: Carry out regular hazard inspections

This means ensuring your work environment is free of obstructions and any potential safety hazards.

Step 2: Keep informed

This means staying abreast of welder and manufacturing manuals in order to ensure that processes followed are performed according to the required standards to minimise risk.

Step 3: Carry out regular training

This should include training your team on any new developments within the industry, such as changes to current processes and new safety measures. Training teams on safety methods is an important way to ensure that safety is a constant priority.

Step 4: Organise the work area

All clutter and hazards should be removed from the work area. Whether it’s cables that can cause a welder to trip or whether it is the presence of unnecessary tools scattered all over the work area, all areas where different equipment belongs should be labelled to reduce clutter. Also make sure that welding areas are free of flammable materials and debris, such as cleaning products, cardboard boxes, paper, dust, wood, rags, paint and others.

Step 5: Install a welding fume extractor

This is possibly the best way to remove harmful air and harmful particles before it reaches a welder’s breathing zone. A welding fume extractor can come in multiple shapes and sizes, with varying levels of portability.

Choosing the right welding fume extractor for your needs

When using a welding gas combined with different metal materials and supporting gases to carry out the job, it is essential to introduce weld fume extraction in your processes. However, choosing between the different options can be a daunting task, particularly if you aren’t sure which one is most suitable for your business. Below, we cover a few of these types of machines so that you can make a more informed decision.

• Mobile filter units: These are portable machines that are easy to move around and are best suited when welding takes place at multiple locations.

• Stationary fume extraction systems: Ideal for situations where space is limited and if you want the fumes to be extracted outside of your premises.

• Centralised extraction systems: This system can be shared among multiple workstations at the same time. They are connected using a ducted system. Some of these are also available as weather-proof variants for outdoor installation. They are ideal for larger welding operations on a more continuous basis.

• Welding fume extraction tables: Used exclusively for fixed workspaces, they have integrated extraction that removes fumes away from workplaces and surface areas. While this option is not mobile, it is ideal for smaller companies that don’t engage in welding for multiple hours a day.

Conclusion

With the undeniable importance of welding fume extraction, you need to make the right choice for your workers and business both for health and safety reasons as well as for compliance purposes.

At Ducting Express, we offer you a broad range of professional options for your welding fume extraction needs. Protect the health of your workers and ensure a safe environment for everyone. Call us today on 01455 817 551. Our experienced and friendly team is ready to be of service to you.