New Workplace Exposure Standard for Welding Fume
There is officially a lower Workplace Exposure Standard for Welding Fume in Australia.
In September 2023, SafeWork Australia voted to lower the Workplace Exposure Standard for Welding Fume from 5mg/m3 to 1mg/m3.
In January 2024, Work Health and Safety Ministers endorsed the decision to change legislation in Australia. All workplaces must now comply with the new lower limit by law.
This new limit applies to welders and anyone who works around welders.
If you are a welder, work with welders, know a welder, or employ welders, it’s important that you educate yourself on what has changed and what can be done to reduce exposure to welding fume.
For detailed information on the change and how you can control exposure, please download the document below.
NEW Welding Fume Workplace Exposure Standard – How the Law has Changed in 2024
NEW Video Compares Effectiveness of Welding Fume Product Controls!
Countless studies have concluded that welding fume is bad for health, yet very few actually provide practical guidance on how to effectively control welding fume exposure... until now.
This new video examines different welding fume product control methods such as On-Gun Fume Extraction, Hooded Capture Extraction, and Welding Helmets with a Powered Air Purifying Respirator, and compares their effectiveness based on data from an independent scientific study.
The film also includes additional insight courtesy of a range of experts from Central Queensland University, GCG, the AMWU, and Weld Australia. These interviews shed light on several key questions including:
- What was the aim of this independent scientific study?
- Which methods were most effective in protecting the welder?
- Which methods were most effective in removing fume from the environment?
- How will these results affect the welding industry at large?
- What are the next steps available to employers and welders?
Watch the video by clicking this link!
These findings are also available via the Effectiveness of Welding Fume Product Controls White Paper, and in a more condensed, infographic-style Key Fact Document. You can access these materials via the link below!
Read the Effectiveness of Welding Fume Product Controls White Paper here
