SIM 03/2010/09
This SIM alerts visiting staff to the production by EEF of new guidance on the practical management of metalworking fluids. It was produced in consultation with HSE and contains useful guidance on risk assessment and information not otherwise available on the key area of controlling mist. It should be read in conjunction with SIM 03/2009/13 “Water-based metalworking fluids: recent developments” and the metalworking fluids information available on the HSE website.
EEF, The Manufacturers Organisation is an employers’ organisation that supports a significant proportion of manufacturing industry in the UK on a range of policy areas including health and safety. It is one of HSE’s partner organisations, working to deliver the Strategy, ‘Be part of the solution’.
EEF have recently produced a web based document entitled “An EEF guide to safe working with metalworking fluids” aimed at supplementing and providing practical guidance on HSE’s own guidance on the same subject.
This new guidance is available free of charge at the EEF website and there are no restrictions on who may access this information. It will be actively promoted by EEF to engineering companies over the coming months.
HSE, through the Manufacturing Sector, has worked with EEF to develop the guidance and it contains information not otherwise available on the key area of controlling mist and identifies factors that need to be considered in the risk assessment when deciding the appropriate control measures required on engineering machines. The main factors are:
High levels of mist are most likely to be generated at grinding machines, high speed CNC machining centres and turning machines, and machines that apply metalworking fluid at high pressure 70 to 200 bar.
Low levels of mist are most likely to be generated at reciprocating saws, lower speed manual drilling, milling and turning machines, including those adapted for NC control, and machines applying fluids at low pressures (typically 5 to 10 bar).
This guidance informs, but does not replace risk assessment. It complements the existing guidance on HSE’s website by providing sensible and practical advice on the types of machinery most likely to give rise to a risk of producing inhalable mist. It should prove helpful to companies when assessing risks from metalworking fluids and enable them to prioritise their actions to achieve effective control.
Inspectors are not required to take any specific action as a consequence of this information, but will need to take the EEF guidance into account when making decisions on the adequacy of arrangements for managing health risks from exposure to metalworking fluids.
