Welding helmets with integrated powered air purifying respirators (PAPR) are established as ‘the most widely used form of respiratory protection amongst welders in Australia and New Zealand.’¹ This is far from surprising given the cooler, cleaner, and more comfortable welding experience afforded by a constant flow of filtered air directly into the welder’s breathing zone.

Based on a recent survey conducted by AWS, only 10% of Australian and New Zealand workplaces use engineering controls (such as on-gun fume extraction or hooded capture LEV) to remove welding fume from the environment and 28% can still see and smell welding fume in the workshop before the welding starts in the morning.

There will be two types of welders reading this article. The first will think this is a joke. That no one could seriously believe that milk would be a suitable shield against a now known carcinogen. The other has heard from their peers that drinking milk does protect them from welding fume and wants to know whether there is any truth to this tale.

There are countless studies that conclude that welding fume is bad for health, yet there seem to be very few that can give us practical guidance on how to effectively control welding fume exposure. Studies have done an effective job in defining the problem; however, few have been able to identify and compare the relative effectiveness of available product control solutions. Until now…

There is officially a lower Workplace Exposure Standard for Welding Fume in Australia. In September 2023, SafeWork Australia voted to lower the Workplace Exposure Standard for Welding Fume from 5mg/m³ to 1mg/m³. In January 2024, Work Health and Safety Ministers endorsed the decision to change legislation in Australia. All workplaces must now comply with the new lower limit by law.