The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has written to fabricated metal businesses across Great Britain to check that they are managing the risks of welding fumes and metalworking fluids.
Inspectors will be checking that businesses are complying with the guidance to manage the risk of respiratory diseases. If your business receives a letter, you should respond as soon as possible and by 24 March at the latest.
Inspectors will be out visiting fabricated metal businesses across Great Britain between May and September 2021 to ensure dutyholders know the risks, plan their work and have adequate control measures in place to protect workers’ health.
Further information and HSE guidance and resources to help manage the risks from welding fumes can be found here.
HSE guidance and resources to help manage the risks from metalworking fluids can be found here.
These pages provide tools to help businesses ensure they work right and have the necessary measures in place to protect workers’s health.
Before the fabricated metal inspections begin, HSE will promote where to access guidance and resources to help manage risks and ensure businesses are prepared for an inspection.
The campaign will also highlight the health risks from welding fumes which can cause cancer and metalworking fluids which can lead to occupational asthma.