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HEALTH SAFETY & THE ENVIRONMENT
considering the development of a document for the minimum requirements for the education
and training of International Welding Safety Personnel. In conjunction with this, C-VIII had
also issued documentation for
Guidance on Qualification of Environmental Coordinators
within the framework of ISO 14001
Environmental management systems – Requirements
with guidance for use
which, in turn, had adopted the general principles of the ISO 9001
series. This was a signal that health and safety in the environment had come of age, that
there was recognition of the seriousness of this and that stricter controls were necessary
through monitoring conformance in the field. It was on this note that Costa handed over
the reins to the capable hands of Zschiesche in 2014 at the end of an eight-year term as the
Chair of C-VIII. Zschiesche had been a contributor and member of C-VIII for many years
and had conducted considerable research work through field studies of welders that focused
on health hazards of welding fumes. At the start of his first term Zschiesche reaffirmed a
willingness to continue the work of his predecessor, intending that the Commission not only
focus on its primary function as framework for the exchange of knowledge, but also support
the work of other IIW Commissions on occupational health, safety and environmental
issues of concern in their own areas of jurisdiction. In this respect, several joint meetings
were held with other Commissions during Zschiesche’s first year resulting in a number of
joint documents under development.
The focus now was to lead IIW forward to meet the new challenges
that IIW and welders faced in the fields of health, safety and the environment.
These included a multilingual booklet on health and safety as well as
a number of best practice statements, such as:
Arc Welding of Steels and
Pulmonary Fibrosis
;
Fire Prevention During Hot Work
;
Arc Welding and
Airways Diseases
; and
Welding Electrical Hazards
. Some of the ‘hot
topics’ lined up for the future included laser technologies, electrical shock,
underwater welding and cutting, polymers, and the effects of welding on
female welders, a study currently being carried out in Canada with respect
to the unborn child.
In summary, the future work designated for C-VIII has
generated an appearance of being just as exciting and interesting
as it had been in the past. In doing so it is representative of the
contributions of its current and past members, in particular it must
be mentioned the contribution of the sterling efforts of Hedrick in his
dedicated capacity as secretary and scribe over the last 10 years.
Another to feature in the C-VIII hall of fame was Mr John
Petkovsek (USA) who was awarded the André Leroy Medal
at the 69th Annual Assembly in 2016 for the Lincoln Electric
Welding Safety Interactive DVD that was designed to educate
electric arc welders about safety hazards. Not to be forgotten
John Petkovsek