04 April 2025
In December 2024 the Health and Safety Inspectorate (HSI) launched an inspection initiative focused on the fabricated metal sector, a high-risk sector with significant health and safety risk profiles.
Eleven businesses were inspected as part of the initiative. The inspections focused on three areas:
- management and control of welding fume exposures
- management of metalworking fluids (MWF) and the control of the health risks associated with skin contact with MWF and the inhalation of MWF mists
- machinery safety
Enforcement action was taken to address the following :
Health risk: welding fume exposure
There were failures to adequately control employees’ exposures to harmful fume, ozone and/or oxides of nitrogen during welding activities. In a minority of cases there were complete absences of exposure control measures.
There were absences of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) and a reliance on respiratory protective equipment (RPE), providing inadequate control of exposure.
Where businesses were reliant on RPE, employees had generally not received face-fit tests for tight-fitting RPE, meaning the business had no assurance of the effectiveness of this control measure.
Where companies had LEV, some had not undergone a thorough examination and test from a competent engineer in the last 14 months, meaning the business has no assurance of the effectiveness of this control measure.
Health risk: metalworking fluids
There was a lack of systems for proactive quality management for metalworking fluids (MWF).
Although there were no processes liable to generate aerosolised MWF, which poses a risk to lung health, there remained a risk to the skin health of their employees.
Each business has been provided information and guidance which they can use to establish a sustainable system of quality management for MWF.
Management of health risks: health surveillance
There was a lack of occupational health surveillance for the lung function and skin health of employees exposed to welding fume and/ or MWF.
This meant businesses were missing a key facet of occupational health management as they had no indication as to the overall effectiveness of their control measures nor any understanding of any pre-existing health conditions amongst their employees which would require additional control and reasonable adjustments.
All businesses inspected were advised to review their noise and vibration risk assessments to ascertain whether health surveillance for noise-induced hearing loss and hand-arm vibration syndrome were required.
Machinery safety
Five of the businesses inspected lacked appropriate guarding on their machinery. In some cases, guarding was absent where it should have been in place, in other cases guarding was present but had been removed or had fallen into disrepair.
The most common issue on pillar drills and/ or milling machines was the absence of chuck guards or equally effective measures to prevent operator draw-in to the chuck, which can cause fractures in the arms, hands or fingers.
On industrial lathes the most common issue was the absence or non-use of chuck guards.
Working safely with machinery: Approved Code of Practice
Other areas of concern
As well as the key areas inspected, HSI inspectors also took enforcement action on other matters of evident concern:
- failure to appropriately store flammable and highly flammable liquids
- failure to prevent fall from height risk from a mezzanine area
- inadequate welfare facilities
- inadequate segregation of incompatible substances
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