56
Improving Global Quality of Life
Through Optimum Use and Innovation of Welding and Joining Technologies
welder against Cr6 is a very important issue. When exposed to zinc, symptoms rarely last more than
24
hours, but each time a welder suffers from metal fume fever he has 1 or 2 days of sick leave.
The European MAC value [maximum accepted concentration of welding fumes], a legally determined
value, is 5 mg/m
3
.
Scandinavian governments are reducing this value. Since 2003, Dutch companies have to
work with MAC = 3.5 mg/m
3
;
a reduction of welding fumes of 30% according to the European norm. This
introduces high investment costs for industrial companies. Regulations in Far East countries are far less
stringent, seducing companies in Europe to outsource welding work.
In manual welding the position of the welder (bending towards the welding zone) is stressful, often leading
to back injuries and although the welding torch does not seem to be very heavy, holding it in a stable
position for some minutes gives one a different view of the meaning of the word “heavy”. It is remarkable
that workplaces are often not designed to fit the needs of the workers but most of the time exactly the other
way around. Welding introduces many challenges to the field of ergonomics, which are at this moment
only just being understood. Europe has to find solutions for the problems such as Repetitive Strain Injury
(
RSI) among welders and Cumulative Trauma Injury, both resulting in lower productivity, lower quality and
workers’ dissatisfaction. There is therefore a very urgent need for guidelines for designing workplaces and
tools to improve working conditions of welders, which will also make welding more cost effective and thus
industry more competitive.
SMEs have to stay competitive to survive. There is a need on the European level to lower production costs
by technological innovations. For a lot of SMEs, welding costs are a substantial part of the production costs.
Depending on the welding process, different solutions are being investigated to lower the emission of
welding gases and fumes or to reduce physical demands. Solutions can be found by lowering the droplet
temperature during GMAW welding, by using green consumables with special coatings in combination with
more effective shielding gases, by smart product design, replacing manual welding by mechanised welding
and the development of a lightweight torch with reverse fume extraction. Smart protection equipment
such as self-positioning exhaust arms and smart helmets with sensors informing the welder about fume
concentrations will be developed and tested at SME shop floors, just as well as smart air blowers, forcing
fumes away from the welder. A software tool for virtual welding, ViWeld, is being developed in a EU project,
enabling design engineers to determine if their products are weldable in an ergonomically responsible
manner. ViWeld also estimates welding fume concentrations depending on welding positions, thus making
design optimisation possible with regards to costs, throughput time, ergonomics and concentrations of
welding fumes.
6.3
Job, skill, career and competence developments
Welding and joining industries are faced with the challenge of declining numbers of people entering
welding-related activities. The longer-term impact of this decline in attraction of our young includes loss of
talent, lower potential rate of growth and safety to people, assets and the environment. The key challenge is
to be able to ensure that whatever one does, one keeps product and whatever raw or intermediate material
inside the pressure envelope. Design of one’s processes must be sound, one has to construct our plants in
accordance with good quality standards and practices and when operating, one needs to have trained and
knowledgeable operators. Personnel maintaining the units need to be well trained and have the required
competencies to keep the plant in reliable condition. One way or another, welding and welding related
technology do feature in all these needs. So having a steady infusion of talented and trained people entering
the field of welding and welding related technology is quite an important and vital element to ensure safe
and reliable plant operations.
