Recently, Safe Work Australia dropped the acceptable level of airborne contaminants from Welding Fumes to 1 mg/m3 as an 8-hour time weight average (TWA). This brings Australia in-line with the majority of Europe, and represents an 80% reduction in “safe” levels (down from 5 mg/m3 previously).
We often mirror Australia with standards such as this. While Worksafe NZ hasn’t dropped their acceptable limit down from 5 mg/m3, they’re likely to soon. For many workshops in NZ this will mean that their current ventilation setup simply isn’t enough.
Given that New Zealand is experiencing a shortage of skilled labour, having a workspace that people want to spend time in is paramount. Company culture aside, having a clean & tidy space for tradespeople to work in that also protects their health could be the difference between a successful hire, and them choosing somewhere else to work.
Additionally, welding fumes have clear, documented side-effects when exposure is too high. Check out these two articles from Worksafe NZ:
Fortunately, this is a problem Viking has been solving for years. We supply and install Extraction Arms, Roof Fans, and various other forms of Cross/Down-draft extraction to cope with fumes in workshops. These can be broken down into two types:
Active Ventilation
Extraction Arms, Cross/Down-Draft Extraction Hoods and Mobile Extraction Units are all “Active” styles of ventilation, simply because they are positioned close to the work area. These ensure that fabricators are protected whilst working, provided they also wear appropriate PPE such as PAPR Helmet Filter Systems.
Passive Ventilation
Roof fans are “Passive” ventilation. Their main goal is ensuring the air in a given workspace is exchanged a given number of times per hour (generally 15-20 per hour for welding workshops). These deal with any transient fumes that don’t get picked up by active forms, preventing other staff in the factory from being exposed to excess fumes and ensuring a cleaner general workspace.
Link to : Extraction Arms , Roof Fans
Each of these will ensure appropriate removal of welding fumes when placed and sized correctly.
All you need to do is get in touch with us.
