With the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recently announcing plans to inspect engineering premises in the coming months, the occupational health expert Bureau Veritas is advising manufacturers to tighten existing procedures on limiting the risks to health associated with exposure to welding fumes and metal-working fluids.

HSE has revealed that it plans to inspect engineering premises from May to September 2021, focusing on the health hazards presented by occupational exposure to welding fumes and metalworking fluids over a prolonged period. Over exposure to these may cause workers to develop, among others, hypersensitive pneumonitis — a serious and irreversible respiratory illness.

In the UK alone, it is estimated that exposure to welding fume causes in excess of 150 deaths due to cancer every year, while around 40 to 50 welders are hospitalised annually with pneumonia due to inhaling metal fumes.

In preparation for potential HSE inspections, Bureau Veritas says the engineering sector must ensure it has the right occupational hygiene programme in place, with a clear emphasis on workplace air monitoring assessments.

Bureau Veritas’ reports will provide clients with quantitative exposure data, a qualitative assessment of all control measures currently in place, as well as recommendations in pursuit of achieving adequate control.

With an experienced network of occupational hygiene consultants operating nationwide, Bureau Veritas offers a wide range of expert, independent occupational hygiene services to help achieve and maintain safety in the workplace, while meeting the requirements of all relevant regulations.

To find out more about Bureau Veritas’s services or to discuss individual requirements with a member of the team, call 0345 600 1828 or go to the website (www.bureauveritas.co.uk).