Welding fume and the law: what the HSE expects

All welding fume can cause cancer

In February 2019 the HSE issued a safety alert. New evidence from the International Agency for Research on Cancer showed that welding fume, including fume from mild steel, can cause lung cancer, and possibly kidney cancer. Mild steel welding fume was reclassified as a cause of cancer in humans.

The HSE says general ventilation does not control it. It also says there is no known safe level of exposure, so it no longer accepts any welding without suitable controls, however short the job.

What the HSE expects you to do

• Use engineering controls, usually local exhaust ventilation (LEV), for all welding indoors.
• Where extraction alone does not control the fume, provide suitable respiratory protective equipment (RPE) as well.
• Provide suitable RPE for welding outdoors.
• Train welders to use the controls properly.
• Keep the extraction maintained, and have it thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months.
• Update your risk assessment to reflect all of this.

Welding fume comes under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH). The rules apply to anyone who welds, specialist or not, however little.

What counts as local exhaust ventilation

LEV takes the fume away at the source, before it reaches the welder: a capture nozzle at the weld, an extraction arm with its cowl beside the work, or a bench that draws fume and dust down through its top. Every Electac machine works this way.

Whether a system controls the fume well enough in your workshop is what the thorough examination and test checks. Keep the nozzle or cowl close to the work, check the airflow, and change filters when they are full: a blocked filter means less air at the weld.

Which welding fume extractor do you need? →

This is a summary

This page summarises the HSE’s published guidance as of the date above. It is not legal advice. Read the HSE’s own pages, linked below, before you rely on it.