Welding and allied processes including hazard identification are outlined in the CSA Standard W117.2 Safety in Welding, Cutting, and Allied Processes.These procedures include the installation of ventilation and fume extraction equipment.
Subsection 10.19 (1)(a) of the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (COHSR) requires that an employee shall be kept free from exposure to a concentration of an airborne chemical agent in excess of the value for that chemical agent adopted by the ACGIH (American Conference of Industrial Hygienists), in its publication entitled Threshold Limit Values and Biological Exposure Indices (TLVs® for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents & Biological Exposure Indices BEIs®. This publication is referenced in the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations made under Part II of the Canada Labour Code.
When concentrations to various constituents present in welding fumes and gases exceed specified TLVs, or when the health of the employee is at risk, the employer is required to reduce exposure below the prescribed limits.
Section 19.5 of Part XIX of the COHSR states that the employer shall, in order to address identified and assessed hazards, take preventive measures that consist first of the elimination of hazards, then the reduction of hazards and finally, the provision of personal protective equipment. As part of the preventive measures, the employer is also required to develop and implement a preventive maintenance program.
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