Hi All   Just seeing if anyone here is into health and safty and can give me a bit of advice ?   Been working for a company for 3 years now, with a bit of welding each week. Nothing complicated or long. But a few weeks ago the Area manager started a new prosess at our work shop that has our mig Welder on the go from 0730 in the morning untill 1630 at the end of the day with out much of a brake as they have brought in a extra welder (Should add Galvanised steel). The main problem is that we are working in a old unit without any extractors, we can open the main doors. But the place is still getting full of fumes. The company did buy the welders new masks with air blowers. But everyone else that works in the workshop dose not have these. Out of the 6 people working in the shop, 2 have started coughting a lot (Both Welders) 2 more have sore throughts and I feel like crap for the last 2 weeks with what I thought was a cold, but could be symptoms of the fumes :(   I have spoke to my boss about this :( and he did tell me that they are not the bad type of fumes lol. Think I will have to chat to the otheres tommorow and get some info sheets printed up and get everyone to have a word with the boss ?                                                                                                                                                                             

Hi hon
All I can find other than the health and safety act 1974 is

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/employers-health-and-safety-responsibilities

You could try your local citizens advice centre which is free advice and they should hopefully be able to either give advice or know someone who can.

Does your firm have a HR dept/person.

Hi Firestorm

Not my area of expertise but suggest you look at the HSE website which gives some pretty good guidance.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/welding/

You could phone HSE direct for some help but tread carefully - HSE could send an inspector round and if there is a serious problem serve a prohibition notice which will shut the place down until problem rectified - make sure your workmates are in agreement so that you are not singled out for rocking the boat!

Hope this helps.

Are you in a trade union? If you are, then there's probably someone there that could help.                                                                                                                                                                              

  Sounds to me like your employer knew there were risks attached to the continuous running of the welder on Galvanized metal   As far as I'm aware the fumes are toxic (including Cyanide) and require  breathing equipment to be worn   But make some inquiries through the web with services in the trade etc.   Ask a MIG wire supplier what wire to use (or something) and should you take special precautions when welding Galv   He {employer} may have taken the "minimum" requirement as an excuse to save money   Either way it's NOT healthy being exposed to toxic fumes   Do so at your own risk   A similar scenario developed in the spraying service sector when "2 PAC" was 1st introduced   Breathing masks were supposed to be worn by all operatives in a sealed environment   Many private "cowboys" ignored the warnings and suffered the consequences   I'd consult your co-workers and confront the management with your concerns   With the "last resort" option of bringing in HSE   Best of luck with it all, hope you get it resolved, safely and soon                                                                                                                                                                                

You need to ask for your employers safe working proceedures and Risk Assessments, which really should be on display either in your worksite for you to consult or rest room if not they should be available anytime to anyone and all relevant health and safety data sheets should be available also,that info should be with the welding rods really, if required by the Health and safety at work act but this is quite generic and leads to other H&S documents detailing onwards,it can be a minefield the world of H&S,first tho ask for all relevant info concerning the proceedures and any data sheets detailing recognised health information.There are proceedures that should be adhered to,a fkn pain in the ass but do it right and no come back on you and your workmates,if still nothing changed from the data sheet instructions,then take it further,a un ion can advise but do nothing more,join them become a  member, then you have the union regional officers to take the case up who deal with this every day,the HSE are industries lapdogs who do not show their teeth as they were set up to do and bend to the wills of companies unless god forbid someone dies on site,Heavy shit but you have to take them on for your own good.By the way opening the doors is a joke,that does not make it an outside area which is one way they could try getting round it all,they need extractors at intervals,especially over the welding areas. That tho you need to get all paperwork regarding health issues and the accepted means to deal with the Health risk.

Anyone is entitled to belong to a trade union even if the firm does not have a recognition agreement with one.
The previous poster has covered most points, but if you work for 6 hours per day you must have a break of at least 20minutes. That is your statutory entitlement.

The fumes created from welding galv, are highly toxic, and in extreme cases have been known to be fatal. Your firm is in breach of health and safety by not having the correct extraction installed. Leaving doors open does not solve the problem.

As an experienced welder, I advise you to get someone to contact health and safety and request that they visit as a matter of urgency, before someones health is affected permanently.

THIS IS A HIGHLY TOXIC PROCESS, DO NOT WAIT, ACT NOW.

My work involves the design, installation and commissioning of extract ventilation systems.

My advice is don't pussy foot around when it comes to the health of you and others in your work place. These fumes are dangerous and after prolonged exposure permanent damage could occur to the lungs etc.

There should be adequate extract ventilation at the point of fume generation. Plus fresh air supply to the area. Preferably in an enclosure separating other operatives from the welding processes. In addition the welder should wear a mask with ventilation attached.

If your company implements the changes, work doesn't necessarily have to stop, as long as temporary but adequate portable extractors are be used.                                                                                                                                                                              

Thanks for the Advice, So far everyone at work has spoken to the boss and told him that it is making them feel unwell :( good news is that the new prosess has been stopped and he is contacting the area manager to get the go ahead to have a extractor system installed.   But also a little piont, also found out when the Area manager was sorting this out at the begining. He told my boss that safty was the most important part of the job and to make sure it was all sorted :( knowing my boss, he did not want to spend extra out on extractors :(   (Also both our welders did not relise that the fumes were, what was makeing them feel ill, strang as I only do a bit of welding here and there and I relised as soon as I noticed it in the air and could smell it DOH, did take me a while to look it up though :( bad me)   But as long as everyone keeps up there view of not working in the fumes, then my boss will have no choice, but to sort it out lol. one of the first times eveyone at work have agreed on something lol.                                                                                                                                                                                 

That's good news FS                                                                                                                                                                              

The welders didnt know  ! jeeez
                                                                                                                                                                             

  Keep us posted FSX   Be interesting to see where this one ends   I do hope it's resolved quickly and safely                                                                                                                                                                               

  For those who want to visit the websites, mentioned by others, here are clickable links   http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/employer...ies    http://www.hse.gov.uk/welding/                                                                                                                                                                              

Really surprised your welders didnt realise how dangerous the fumes are. Never met one who didnt know about  galv flu.                                                                                                                                                                              

well you get what you pay for lol ;)