Published on 28 January 2013
The perils of exposure to welding fume, and the scientific detail related to the subject, have recently been collected and collated in a new database launched by TWI.
It resides on the news area of TWI's corporate website (www.twi.co.uk). There is also a link from Health and Safety in the Industry Support section of the homepage.
The database was generated as part of a group sponsored project at TWI, supported by the Health and Safety Executive and Nickel Institute. The source data were obtained from literature, from a survey of TWI member companies and from personal contacts with the author. It's unique because individual datasets and datapoints are made available, allowing database users to perform their own statistical analysis, after downloading.
The database has been created in Microsoft ExcelT. Its structure is indeed comprehensive because factors such as sampling method, welding process, and work location are all addressed. So it is possible for users to edit the data according to their particular needs.
It is envisaged that, together with other relevant data, the database may be helpful in examining the health effects of exposure to welding fume, in establishing exposure limits, in examining the economic effects of prescribing exposure limits, and in examining exposure levels for a particular welding process.
At present, the database contains approximately 5000 datapoints but this could soon grow as the usefulness of the database is acknowledged.
For information about TWI's capabilities please contact us.