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Posted By P. Moore
My company wants to use an old spray paint booth in our premises for MIG welding.
There is an existing LEV system in place, but has not been tested by a competent person vis-a-vis COSHH Reg 9.
Can anyone give me advice on matters that need to be risk assessed and controls that need to be implemented in relation to such a change of activtity in the booth, please?
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Posted By Adrian Watson
The factors that need to be considered are the:
Individual;
Task;
Environment;
Materials being used; and
Substances Produced.
You will need to look at how the how the operator welds; what he is welding (type and nature of welding, size and position of workpiece); lighting and ventilation inside the booth; the metals being welded, the consumables being used and the gases and fumes being produced.
The paint spray booth should be OK in principle but you will need a competent person to carry out a thorough test and examination. This will require air monitoring as part of the initial assessment and the welder will need training on how to weld properly inside the booth. You possibly will need a turn table to rotate the work piece as the ventilation point is fixed.
Send me an email off line if you want to obtain further details.
Regards Adrian Watson
Registered Occupational Hygienist
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Posted By Andy Young
Make sure the booth & ductwork (internally & externally) have been thoroughly cleaned prior to carrying out any welding. There may be the potential for sparks igniting accumulated paint residues. You may wish to remove any dry filters, for example, which pose a fire risk.
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Posted By William
Do you consider the booth as a confined space? As for any fumes from MiG welding, i think they would be minimal compared to other methods.
I would agree that the area should be thoroughly cleansed as any dried paint would be a fire hazard, another good idea would be to line the booth with fire blanket.
The requirements for ventilation are covered in section 6 of the workplace regs and it states that any enclosed workplace is ventilated by a sufficient quantity of fresh or purified air.
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Posted By John Murgatroyd
"As for any fumes from MiG welding, i think they would be minimal compared to other methods."
Not so. It depends on the material being welded, and any coatings on same. The filler wire and the gas being used.
Metal with any paint or residue on will emit copious amounts of harmful fumes when welded, and any cleaning prior to welding will cause dust. The fume from steel being welded will have quantities of manganese in, which is harmful. The fumes will contain amounts of carbon dioxide and monoxide (the shield gas....you may use pure argon in some processes in which case much lower amounts of carbon dioxide and monoxide will be present) If you're welding stainless steel, a high degreee of extraction will be needed and the welder will also need a mask with an air feed directly into it (various chromium compounds) Some sheet steels will come with an anticorrosion coating....zinc, aluminium or in a worst case, cadmium....
You may well be welding mig with cored wire, in which case fluorine and bromine compounds will also be present in the fume.
You need the fumes tested. When done, the welder/s will need to be given a copy of the test results, and any subsequent risk assessment/coshh assessment. They may need health surveillance as well.
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Posted By Jane Blunt
MIG is generally capable of producing fume levels that are higher than the exposure limits. Don't forget that you can also get quite high levels of ozone when welding stainless steel or aluminium. therefore your extraction system will need to be in efficient working order.
Also scrutinise this booth for combustible materials - any curtains etc need to be non-combustible. You don't say whether this booth has a solid door - if it is transparent you will need to substitute something that will prevent passers-by from being exposed to arc light.
Jane
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Posted By Alan Nicholls
You may also consider the use of LEV at the point of fume production. Don't forget non reflective surfaces to prevent eye damage from light back scatter or reflection. Prevent unprotected persons from entering while welding operations are undertaken. If you are considering the general ventilation it should provide at least 6 to 10 air changes per hour for the booth.
Regards Alan N
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