WELDING FUME AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
2009.07
The Lincoln Electric Company (www.lincolnelectric.com) has launched its “Are You Ready?” awareness campaign, designed to educate employers, as well as the general welding community, about effective fume control practices. The campaign is also designed to help fabricators understand both recent and upcoming Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) regulations, including the hexavalent chromium standards going into effect on May 31, 2010. The campaign promotes welding fume control and safety awareness and offers access to a comprehensive one-stop shop of reference materials, interactive tools, and product solutions for weld fume control. This Lincoln Electric initiative is intended to educate the welding community on current and pending OSHA regulations and the proper operating practices to follow, particularly in reference to occupational exposure to welding fume containing hexavalent chromium and manganese. Although arc welding is a safe process when sufficient measures are taken to protect the welder from potential hazards, Lincoln Electric has made it an integral part of the Company’s welding training mission to promote welding safety. The Company publishes welding safety documents for the welding community and continuously trains welding operators regarding proper welding techniques, processes, and resources. The first resource available to launch the “Are You Ready?” campaign is the interactive website at: www.lincolnelectric.com/weldfume-control.
CGA HAS NEW ACETYLENE STANDARD
2009.07
The Compressed Gas Association (CGA) (www.cganet.com) released a new publication: CGA G-1.9, Recommended Practices for Maintaining the Proper Solvent Level in Acetylene Cylinders. The publication covers recommendations for maintaining the proper solvent level in acetylene cylinders and provides fillers with a reliable method with which they can develop standard operating procedures. Numerous tables enable operators to maintain the correct solvent level in a cylinder without performing calculations each time a cylinder is checked. “G 1.9 will lead to a greater understanding of the acetylene cylinder solvent system, the solventing process, increased safety, and increased efficiencies,” states Jack Wert, technical manager, CGA. The Recommended Practices for Maintaining the Proper Solvent Level in Acetylene Cylinders is primarily intended for acetylene cylinder fillers. While the background, precautions, and general procedures given apply to all solvents in use with acetylene, special emphasis is given to the use of acetone and dimethylformamide (DMF). To purchase an electronic or hard copy of this standard please visit www.cganet.com or call Customer Service at 703-788-2799. The standard is priced at $70 for a hard copy and $53 for an electronic copy. Reference publication number G- 1.9 when purchasing.
