The HSE released a safety bulletin (STSU1) back in 2019 stating the following:
“There is new scientific evidence from the International Agency for Research on Cancer that exposure to mild steel welding fume can cause lung cancer and possibly kidney cancer in humans. The Workplace Health Expert Committee has endorsed the reclassification of mild steel welding fume as a human carcinogen.
With immediate effect there is now a strengthening of HSE's enforcement expectation for all welding fume, including mild steel welding; because general ventilation does not achieve the necessary control”.
Yet although this was released nearly 5 years ago, a lot of businesses are either unaware of this requirement or have chosen to still not implement sufficient control measures for welding fumes.
So What do you need to do as an Employer?
Make sure exposure to any welding fume released is adequately controlled using engineering controls typically Local exhaust ventilation (LEV).
Make sure suitable controls are provided for all welding activities, irrelevant of duration. This includes welding outdoors.
Where engineering controls alone cannot control exposure, then adequate and suitable Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) should be provided to control risk from any residual fume.
Make sure all engineering controls are correctly used, suitably maintained and are subject to thorough examination and test where required. LEV is subject to 14 month inspections alongside any servicing requirements and filter changes.
Make sure any RPE is subject to an RPE programme. An RPE programme covers all the elements you need to ensure that your RPE is effective in protecting the wearer. Dependent on the RPE used, users may be subject to face fit testing.
In addition to engineering controls and RPE (where required), we recommend that Health surveillance is carried out.
What is Health Surveillance?
Health surveillance is a system of ongoing health checks that is used to:
collect data to detect or evaluate health hazards
protect employees' health by early detection of changes or disease
evaluate control measures
Employers should provide respiratory health surveillance when welding stainless steel, where a known asthmagen, for example chromium, is present in the fume. You should do this unless the risk assessment has shown there is not a reasonable likelihood of developing asthma.
Asthma health surveillance should include:
a baseline questionnaire and spirometry
a further questionnaire at 6 and 12 weeks post start of work (this period may vary)
an annual questionnaire and spirometry
You should provide workers with adequate information, instruction and training so that they report relevant symptoms.
You should seek advice from a competent person, such as an occupational health provider.
It may be helpful to develop and maintain an individual health record for all those exposed to welding fume, where the health effect is cancer. The record should contain:
surname
forename(s)
gender
date of birth
permanent address and postcode
national insurance number
date when present employment started
a historical record of jobs in this employment involving exposure to the known carcinogen
Note: As the employer, if you choose to do this then it's your responsibility to maintain health records.
You must keep records for at least 40 years.
Applicable Regulations:
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
Further free guidance available from the HSE:
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