Safety Knights

Back when I managed EHS for a production welding shop, we only worked on cold rolled steel and did not conduct medical testing for our workers. Not sure if that's right or wrong.

What materials are your folks welding on, and do you have SDS's for those products?

I never had production welding. I always had welding performed by Machine Repairman and Millwrights. A machine repairman in my operations might weld a couple times a month for under half an hour each time. Mostly torch (gas) welding for cutting mostly. Arc welding very infrequently.

If I was in an operation where we were doing production welding where employees were exposed frequently, I would perform JSAs, certainly including air exposures. I would look at the type of welding and what was being welded. I would certainly consider air testing by a CIH or person that really understands the hazards and health risks. It might cost you upwards of $10k but at the risk of causing someone to have cancer it is money well spent.

Are they welding on stainless steel and did the air sampling include hexavalent chromium? That is missed sometimes when sampling for metals.

When you say lung tests, are you referring to the pulmonary function test? And when they did the air sampling, did they place the cartridge under the welding helmet (a common miss).

PFT’s are a best practice for exposure groups that have inhalation hazards that harm the lungs. They can be an early warning sign. Good industrial hygiene exposure assessments and data from air sampling is also helpful to quantify the hazards.

CIH’s are a great investment when there is doubt.

When you say "lung tests", are you talking about a chest x-ray? Spirometry/PFT? Something else?

Depending on what you're welding on and/or exposed to from the welding process itself, some OSHA standards, such as the hexavalent chromium standard, require initial and annual medical evaluations that include various respiratory evaluations. If they have to wear a respirator, many PLHCPs will want to do a PFT, even though it's not specifically mentioned in OSHA's respiratory protection standard (but is indirectly required in the standard by generic wording).