Providing a safe, healthy and compliant work environment doesn’t need to be complicated. Miller is the only single-source solution for welding fume control products that fulfill each tier of OSHA’s hierarchy of controls, making it easier to keep your environment in compliance and your workers on the job.
Statistics and Trends
#4 - Respiratory Protection
OSHA's 2014 Top Ten Most Cited Violations
The section cited most often within this category is 1910.134(c)(1) - Establishing and implementing a written respiratory protection program.
Long-term welders face a 30 to 40 percent increased risk of lung cancer due to exposure to fumes that may contain nickel, hexavalent chromium, and manganese, as well as welding or cutting surfaces covered in asbestos.
The Talk: Terms & Definitions
OSHA: Occupational Safety & Health Administration; federal agency responsible for setting and enforcing standards, providing training, outreach, education and assistance.
Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL): Enforceable regulatory limits on the amount or concentration of a substance in the air, established by OSHA.
Time Weighted Average (TWA): Average value of exposure on the basis of an 8h/day, 40h/week work schedule.
Ceiling Limit (C): Absolute exposure limit that should not be exceeded at any time.
ACGIH®: American Congress of Governmental Industrial Hygienists; a member-based organization that develops recommendations or guidelines to assist in the control of occupational health hazards.
ACGIH Threshold Limit Value (TLV®): Limits on the concentration of a substance in the air, typically for inhalation or skin exposure.
NIOSH: National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health; federal agency that conducts research and makes recommendations to prevent worker injury and illness as well as certifies respirators.
Recommended Exposure Limits (REL): Occupational exposure limits recommended by NIOSH to OSHA for adoption.
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency; federal agency that focuses on protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.
NESHAP: National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants set by the EPA; controls what manufacturers emit out of their shops.
Know Your Hazard
Dusts & Fibers: Solid particles that are formed or generated from solid materials through mechanical processes such as crushing, grinding, drilling, abrading or blasting. Examples are lead, silica, and asbestos.
Fumes: Solid particles that are formed when a metal or other solid vaporizes and the molecules condense (or solidify) in cool air. Examples are metal fumes from smelting or welding.
Mists: Tiny droplets of liquid suspended in the air. Examples are oil mists produced from lubricants used in metal cutting operations.
Gases: Materials that exist as individual molecules in the air at room temperature. Examples are welding gases, such as acetylene and nitrogen, and carbon monoxide produced from internal combustion engines.
Vapors: Gaseous form of substances that are formed by evaporation. They are normally in the solid or liquid state at room temperature and pressure. Most solvents produce vapors. Examples include toluene and methylene chloride.