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TWI opens new facility to help improve the
working environment and make welding safer
10th March 2004 — TWI is opening a new facility, sponsored
by Air Products, to test the environmental and safety impact
of fumes and pollutant gases generated by welding processes.
The new facility will advance safety in the field of welding
by helping industry develop and test processes and products
that limit potentially harmful fume and gas emissions.
Particulate fume and gas emissions are an increasingly
important concern for industry. Legislation governing health
and safety in welding exists in all countries and is becoming
ever more stringent. It requires fabricators to ensure that
they comply with strict exposure limits on key pollutants
and carry out detailed risk assessments of their welding
and cutting processes.
This is the first time that TWI has dedicated laboratory
space to the full-time study and measurement of fume and
pollutant gas emissions and their impact on personal exposure
levels and health and safety in the workplace.
The facility is sponsored by welding gas producer Air Products
and will be named after the company's founder Leonard Parker
Pool. It will allow welding trials to be carried out on
various processes and procedures with different equipment,
materials and consumables. This work will enhance understanding
in the field and help the welding and cutting industry to
develop new consumables, such as shielding gases, wires
or electrodes, and new welding procedures with low emission
characteristics.
The facility will include new state-of-the-art equipment
for measuring the emission rate of fume and pollutant gases.
TWI's Chief Executive Bevan Braithwaite, said: "This
is a significant step for every industry involved in welding.
Making welding a safer process for the people who undertake
it as well as reducing the impact on the work environment
is a key priority for us.
"This dedicated laboratory space will provide the
best conditions possible for the accurate and reproducible
measurement of fume and pollutant gas emissions and will
help to further our understanding in this key area of workplace
health and safety."
Air Products' European President Bernard Guerini said:
"The relationship between Air Products and TWI stretches
back over twenty-five years. In that time the partnership
has been responsible for some groundbreaking research including
the development of the first technique for reproducibly
measuring potentially harmful ozone exposure during welding.
"The collaboration has led to some great innovations
- including our new Maxx range of shielding gases, which
deliver faster welding speeds and superior weld quality
without compromising workplace health & safety.
"The new laboratory will undoubtedly herald even greater
advances towards making welding and cutting safer."
To coincide with the opening of the Leonard Parker Pool
laboratory, Air Products has also produced a new booklet
"Understanding fume & pollutant gases in welding
- a practical guide" designed to provide information
and advice to fabricators.
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