The Pen | André Faber, head of smoke extraction technology Abicor Binzel

How healthy is your work environment?

Standards for acceptable levels of welding fumes are not uniform in Europe. They vary from country to country and sometimes even from region to region. Yet we can detect a common thread: they are all becoming more stringent. If the corona crisis is going to have a lasting impact, it will come down to how healthy our workplaces really are. Everyone should be able to do their job in the safest conditions possible. Not just the welder but anyone working nearby. Therefore, source extraction will be the key to healthy welding.

The welding standards currently in force in Belgium are largely sufficient to prevent welders from breathing in too much noxious fumes and causing serious short- and long-term damage to their health. At least, if they are actually put into practice. If a welder has been given a gun with spot extraction to work with, he must handle it properly every second he is working with it. It should not be pushed aside or modified until the next inspection comes along. It is crucial that everyone in the welding world is aware of this and the dangers they place themselves but also others in when they flout the rules. That is also why there will be new and stricter standards. To protect people from themselves.

The good news is that enough technology is already available today to meet even the most stringent standards. The point is to convince companies and users of the added value of such systems and to lower the barriers as much as possible. For Abicor Binzel, the key to a healthy working environment lies in source extraction. If welding fumes do not have the opportunity to spread throughout the production area, they will never be able to threaten colleagues working nearby. After all, in many cases they do not have the protection that the welder enjoys. What then keeps metalworkers from investing in this is that it is not so easy to put into practice. There are many factors involved in extracting welding fumes as close to the workpiece as possible while keeping the efficiency of that process and comfort for the welder as high as possible.

Special welding guns with integrated welding fume extraction were invented for exactly that reason. But they are undeniably larger, heavier and more difficult to handle, both for welders and welding robots. Many of our developments in recent years have attempted to bridge the gap with conventional welding guns in these areas. And that will continue to be our focus in the coming years. But it is equally important to have a total solution. For the best possible results, the fume extraction unit and the gun must work together in perfect sync. The right negative pressure, for example, is a criterion in this and that will lead to lower energy consumption.

This is the path chosen by Abicor Binzel: system solutions. Perhaps not the easiest path because we had to familiarize our team with a whole new way of thinking. But the path that best serves the interests of the welder: to protect him as well as possible from welding fumes. And that's what welding companies need to do as well, look at that bigger picture and protect everyone working in the production hall.