The management of risk: application to the welding industry

The management of health risk in the welding industry is considered based on a discussion of the major sources of harm to welders arising from their employment (e.g., accidents and inhalation of fumes and gases). It is shown that present methods neither enable the assessment of the societal and human costs involved, nor permit the specific association of delayed health effects to occupational fume exposures. Reported accidents usually occur early in the working experience and contribute to a large number of working days lost, while fume exposures may contribute to a reduction in life quality which is poorly defined. It is concluded that risk management can only be attempted after much more information is made available concerning the origin, nature, and duration of health effects, especially as related to individual welding technologies and applications.