Total Lubricants is urging metal-working businesses to ensure that they have the correct procedures in place for controlling exposure to the mist and fumes created in metal-working processes in order to comply with regulatory
requirements.

The company says that the UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has strengthened its enforcement expectations and stepped up its inspection programme since February 2019, following new scientific evidence that exposure to all welding fumes, including mild steel welding fumes, can cause lung cancer (and there is limited evidence linking it to kidney cancer).

This further work builds on an inspection programme that the HSE introduced in 2017, which targeted manufacturing businesses where metal fabrication takes place in order to assess the methods of control of exposure to metal-working fluids.

The HSE identified a potential risk of serious respiratory diseases such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), cancer and asthma to those exposed to metal-working fluids, as well as the substances being hazardous to the skin and eyes.

Enforceable by law under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 2002, business owners have a duty of care to ensure that the risks from exposure to the mist and fumes produced from oil and metal-working fluids in various applications are properly managed.

There are many variations of metal-working fluid available in the market to suit a raft of different manufacturing applications and processes.

Peter Allen, metal-working technical sales manager at Total Industrial Lubricants, said: “There are two issues here, which the HSE is taking very seriously.

"The first is the health effects of exposure to the mist created by metal-working fluids during manufacturing processes, and the second is workers’ exposure to welding fumes.

"If the metal parts have been cut/processed with a conventional metal-working fluid prior to welding, then the fumes emitted during welding can be hazardous.

"Using Total’s Folia range of metal-working fluids, which contain fewer hazardous components than conventional metal-working fluids, can help to eradicate the problem.”

Further information can be found at the Web site (www.total.co.uk).