INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITY IN HEALTH AND SAFETY IN WELDING

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INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITY IN HEALTH AND SAFETY IN WELDING THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF WELDING (IIW)

G. McMillan1 (United Kingdom) E-mail: GHGM@doctors.org.uk

ABSTRACT
This paper describes the role purpose and current activities of Commission VIII (Health and Safety) in promoting the wellbeing of welders and the welding industry in general. Appropriately qualified people are encouraged to seek membership and play their part in this important work.

IIW-Thesaurus keywords: Welding; Health and safety.

1 INTRODUCTION
The hazards associated with welding and other joining processes are similar all over the world yet the precautions taken to control the risks of harm which may arise in this work vary greatly between and within countries. Ideally, agreement would be reached internationally on the best ways forward and these standards and methods would be adopted and applied with equal vigour all over the world to benefit workers and the industry in general. In reality, however, barriers so often spring up to prevent agreement being reached on exactly what should be done, let alone making progress on actually achieving improvements in the workplace. Lack of skill and knowledge of what action is required to protect health and safety is among the most innocent of these barriers. Others include cultural, political and economic pressures which may dilute the strength of well-founded scientific conclusions as national exposure standards are set and health and safety laws are framed by government agencies. When it comes to implementation, self-interest of employers to make profit and of employees to take home higher wages can, from time to time, appear to blind both parties to risks of injury, ill-

ness or even death and get in the way of reducing the incidence of ill health, injury or even death. Wouldnt it be wonderful for there to be a forum which was recognised internationally and throughout the welding and joining industry as a place where a cross-section of well-informed people from that industry and associated academic establishments could meet, free of special interest pressures, to share their knowledge and experience. There they could be tasked to consider new technological developments debate the validity and conclusions of scientific reports on health and safety risks on these and established processes, to seek a consensus view and to advise everyone in the industry on their best assessment of levels of risk and how these might be managed most effectively and efficiently. The International Institute of Welding seeks to provide such a forum in its Commission on Health and Safety. While there is still much to be done to achieve the ideal mix of skills in the membership, the Commission already offers an opportunity for fair, free, well-informed and balanced debate and can provide a source of soundlybased advice to the industry.

Doc. IIW-1720-05 (ex-doc. VIII-2003-05) recommended for publication by Commission VIII Health and Safety.
Welding in the World, Vol. 50, n 3/4, 2006

Dr. Grant McMillan, an occupational physician in independent practice, is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Occupational Health at the University of Birmingham, UK. He is Chairman of IIW Commission VIII (Health and Safety).

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INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITY IN HEALTH AND SAFETY IN WELDING

2 IIW COMMISSION VIII (HEALTH AND SAFETY)

IIW was founded in 1948 by the welding institutes or societies of 13 countries. There are now almost 50 member countries. Its mission is to be the global body in the science and application of joining technology, providing networking and knowledge exchange so it is a natural home for a focal point on health and safety. Commission VIII (Health and Safety) is one of over 25 Working Units within IIW in which experts from around the world come together to stimulate thought and co-ordinate and disseminate information. It provides the epicentre for health and safety matters within IIW. Its tasks are to review and evaluate information on health and safety aspects of welding and allied processes and provide consensus expert statements, arrange seminars on topical matters and generally provide health and safety information requested by other working units. The Commission meets formally twice a year; once at the Annual Assembly and then at a separate Intermediate Meeting, usually in Europe. Business continues by correspondence between meetings. The Commission met in Prague in July 2005 and will meet in Slovenia and Canada in 2006. Details of forthcoming meetings are published on the IIW website at www.iiw-iis.org. Delegates come from a range of work disciplines in the industry and academia. Ideally membership would include representatives from all member countries and from all facets of the industry including metallurgists, structural designers, equipment and consumable manufacturers, welding engineers, medical and safety specialists, educators and trainers, customers, insurers, trade unionist officials, and working welders. Recent meetings have attracted up to 35 delegates from 20 countries. This relatively small group covers several facets of the industry but is not yet sufficiently representative for the best use to be made of the opportunity to share and distil knowledge and experience. I believe the greatest current deficit to be the absence of welders who are working in the industry, designers, occupational hygienists, ergonomists, toxicologists and medical specialists. Breadth of expertise is enhanced from time to time by inviting expert contributors from other Commissions and host countries to contribute to discussions. A major feature of the Prague meeting was the contribution made by guest experts from the Czech Republic who talked on risk assessment, occupational diseases of welders in that country, and the measurement and control of ozone and electromagnetic radiation from welding processes. Other topics discussed during the meeting were exposure

levels for oxides of nitrogen, variations in occupational exposure standards founded on the same evidence, new manganese research, international standards relevant to ergonomics in welding and fabrication and the European Welding Federations new guidelines for health and safety in welding and allied processes. The last of these topics gained an immediate good result in useful networking between the European presenter and an Australian delegate involved in a similar initiative with small and medium enterprises in his country.

3 IIW COMMISSION VIII BEST PRACTICE DOCUMENTS ON HEALTH AND SAFETY

The Commission maintains a list of Best Practice Documents (see Table 1). These are usually the outcome of debate within the Commission but occasionally a paper published in the scientific literature has been included.

4 COMMISSION VIII HOT TOPICS

Current hot topics for Commission VIII include, in no particular order of priority: possible central nervous system effects of manganese in fume from steel welding and allied processes; the health significance of ultrafine particles in welding fume; safety of welders fire, electrocution, asphyxia, noiseinduced hearing loss etc; review and revision of process safety information sheets; preparation of technical reports to complement ISO/CEN standards touching on health and safety of welders; the possible health effects of gases from welding processes; the apparent excess risk of lung cancer in welders; improving ergonomics to improve efficiency and preventing the work-related musculoskeletal disorders which affect so many welders because of the work positions they have to adopt and difficulties they face in achieving access and egress to the worksite.

5 BECOMING A MEMBER OF IIW COMMISSION VIII

Finally, I conclude by inviting any reader who wishes to contribute directly to the interesting and important work of Commission VIII to approach their national welding society. Others are invited to keep the Commission informed of research studies and findings. Contact addresses may be obtained from IIW through its website: www iiw-iis.org.

Table 1 Examples of IW Best Practice Documents on health and safety in welding and allied processes
IIW Doc. No. III-1973-03 VIII-1901-00 VIII-1876-99 VIII-1858-98 VIII-1856-98 VIII-1823-97 Title Chromium in stainless steel welding fume Welding with non-consumable thoriated tungsten electrodes Fume composition related to welding processes and consumables Health hazards from exposure to electromagnetic fields in welding Welding adds hazards to work in confined spaces Statement on welding and cutting containers