Use of Local Extract Ventilation (LEV) to Help Draw Welding Fume Away From the Breathing Zone of Welders - Case Study Example

 Executive Summary The development of health and safety measures within an organisation is mandatory for ensuring long-term sustainability. Specifically, maintaining safety measures is a compulsion for such organisations that deal with the use of different hazardous materials. Hence, the development of safety needs as per the standards mentioned by different agencies is obligatory for the organisations. With the development of the healthy measures, organisations will be able to ensure healthy life of their respective employees. It can be apparently observed that several healthy measures are duly taken by the organisations for fulfilling the aforesaid objectives. In this regard, implementation of Local Extract Ventilation (LEV) is regarded as one of such steps, which possesses the ability of enhancing the quality of the work environment. A qualitative research has been conducted for this study in order to increase its credibility. This is mainly because the research approach will help in attaining the desired objectives relevant to the subject matter of the research. With the speculation of the different available resources, it is observed that the implementation of LEV is going to impose positive impact on the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) management practices of the organisations at large. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 1.Introduction 4 2.Background 5 3.1 A Brief Overview of the Company 5 3.2 Use of LEV 6 3.Methodology 8 4.Findings and Discussion 10 5.Conclusion 14 6.Recommendations 15 7.References 17 8.Bibliography 21 10. Appendices 22 Graph 1: Lung Tumor Multiplicity Due to Exposure of the Gases 22 Table 1: Exposure Limits 23 23 1. Introduction Organisations are presently developing their entities and credibility in the market by enhancing its sustainability. To develop health and safety measures, the organisations in this present day context attempt to incorporate different measures. It is mandatory for the organisations to maintain safety needs at the workplace and promote different safety requirements of the workers with the aim of conducting operational functions effectively. The governmental organisations are integrating strict laws that develop a proper system and enhance the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) management to implement a healthy environment at the workplace (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2012). It is mandatory for every organisation to manage health and safety at workplace and enhance the organisational ability to comply with diverse health needs. The strategic implementation of different health measures is quite indispensable for designing a proper environment to enhance the different needs of health and safety at workplace. Specifically for the people working in hazardous areas and companies operating within hazardous elements, maintaining OSH is mandatory. Different organisations that are dealing with hazardous elements are majorly inclined towards developing different health and safety needs for performing respective works in an effective manner. For the construction companies, dealing with risky and unhealthy elements eventually lays the need of implementing effective safety standards (Department of Labour and Employment, 2013). In relation to the above context, the essay elaborates on the use of different health and safety measures in a construction company. A detailed elaboration has been provided about the use of Local Extract Ventilation (LEV) to draw the toxic fumes from the breathing zones of the welders to develop a healthy and safe environment. The essay even elaborates the positive improvement that could be integrated into the working environment to enhance the quality of work life amid the employees. 2. Background 3.1 A Brief Overview of the Company The construction company has been operating in Manchester, UK for several years. The company is maintaining its business and developing sustainability by meeting the different requirements of the clients. With the belief of delivering quality products at affordable rates, the company is involved in maintaining its sustainability and developing its competitive advantage. Additionally, by maintaining its human resources the company desired to develop its attributes and maintain its image as a responsible employer. The company has been enhancing its credibility with the development of sustainability measures both internally and externally. This is noted to be enhancing the corporate entity in the local arena. The company is found to be successfully dealing with smooth conduct of the construction projects by using various materials and thus able to satisfy its potential consumers. With the development of a sustainable domain, the company is able to expand its peripherals and developed better organisational image in the respective industry wherein it operates. The company has been developing its entity by aligning vision with organisational objectives by emphasising maintenance of total commitment of meeting its consumers’ needs and demands. By exploring the different fields of the construction business, the company has been able to reach into new horizons and develop its long-term sustainable domain. The company is also witnessed to enhance its health and safety measures to develop its image as a responsible employer and provide its employees with a perfect work environment. By performing these activities, it can be affirmed that the company has experienced lowest rate of employee turnover. Furthermore, the company, in order to develop its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, remained much involved in enhancing its business practices towards maintaining its entity as a responsible corporate. It is even noted that by aligning its values of maintaining a healthy work environment, the company has managed its human resource activities more effectively. The organisation has even recorded the lowest number of accidents on job and has developed its entity as a responsible corporate. Providing the effective need of healthcare and safety is going to increase the organisation’s acceptance amongst the employees. This would further motivate the employees to perform in a better manner and make the organisation to sustain in long term. 3.2 Use of LEV In relation to the above context, it can be affirmed that as the company deals with a series of hazardous elements while undergoing through varied construction projects, the employees working in the company are also exposed to various risky materials. This exposure certainly enhances the company’s requirements to develop certain standards for delivering the employees with appropriate health and safety needs at workplace. In order to develop different safety as well as health needs of the workforce, the company has implemented different safety measures. The company even follows the standard guidelines provided by the government to comply with the different safety needs and enhance the work environment within the organisation (Department of Labour, n.d.). One such development, which incorporated by the organisation is, the implementation of LEV so that the toxic fumes could be moved away from the breathing zones of the welders. By implementing general ventilation, the employer could ensure that the toxic fumes are moved away from the breathing areas and a proper health support to the employees could be developed (Commonwealth of Australia, 1990). It can be assumed that the company is implementing LEV at its wielding areas in order to establish a healthy environment at the workplace. The implementation of LEV with the welders will certainly prevent the toxic fumes from affecting the life of the workers and develop a healthy work environment (Flynn & Susi, 2012). The use of LEV is likely to develop the internal environment of the organisation and ensure greater level of health as well as safety for its employees. This would further enhance the credibility of the organisation in the form of establishing a healthy environment and developing the quality of work life for the employees even when performing under adverse situations (BOC, 2014). Lekka & et. al. (2012) in relation to the above context commented that the different HSE behavioural theories, which may enhance the distinct practices involved with the use of the apparatus like welders may generate certain significant amount of risks. In this similar context, the notion of transformational leadership under the category of HSE behavioural theories may promote the design of a safety culture and develop a proper system, which would enhance the ability of the organisations to perform. Management needs to develop a proper commitment of safety and ensure that the safety measures are maintained within the organisations. This theory specifies the different practices of management teams to enhance their behavioural practices and develop the safety measures within an organisation. The transformational leadership practices will certainly enhance the work environment and develop the quality of health of the employees (Anderson, n.d.). The company considered for this study must consider certain effective HSE behavioural based theories with the intention of influencing the health as well as safety behaviours of its welders and other employees. In this regard, the ABC analysis is worth mentioning for the company to be considered while ensuring the deliverance of proper health along with safety for its welders and other employees. In general, the HSE behavioural based theory i.e. ABC analysis can be mainly elaborated as ‘Antecedents’ (A), ‘Behaviour’ (B) and ‘Consequences’ (C). This particular model specifies that the behaviours often get triggered by including a set of A, linked by B and finally followed by C (Crown, 2002). With this concern, in relation to the construction company considered for the study, it can use this model in the form of determining the influences of behavioural attitudes of its employees like the welders, linking the operational aspects with their respective behaviours and finally judging the outcomes obtained from the process. It is projected that these practices of the company as per the ABC model would significantly aid in influencing health as well as safety behaviours of its employees at large. 3. Methodology To ascertain the objective of the research and develop relevancy of the present study, a qualitative approach of research methodology has been taken into concern. From a theoretical perspective, it can be affirmed that qualitative analysis helps in developing the credibility of a research and also supports in providing a scientific approach towards the given study. The qualitative approach is best suited for the current study as it helps in increasing the evidenced based research about the practices of OSH. Furthermore, with the application of the above stated research approach, the different effects of using LEV in developing a perfect work environment can be analysed effectively. Additionally, the level of health and safety could not be measured in terms of quantity, hence application of varied statistical tools is not possible in relation to this study. Moreover, dealing with the human behaviours is observed to be quite conspicuous and cannot be measured with the implication of the statistical tools. Thus, the qualitative approach is best suited for the development of a proper analysis of the different behavioural and psychological terms. Qualitative analysis is observed to be best suited for developing the different attributes related with the management of human behaviours (Creswell, 2013). The research design helps in developing a strategic approach towards attaining the objectives of a particular research. The structured design helps in developing a proper procedure and the credibility of the research study. Determining the appropriate design for the research enhances the quality of the study and elucidates its objectives. By developing a strategic approach, it could be ascertained that an effective research aids in attaining the desired outcomes. T To validate the outcomes of a research, the research design must be developed in such a way that it can adequately meet the needs of the study. Moreover, in order to validate the objective of the study, the data has been collected from varied secondary resources that would support in promoting evidence based approaches. It is worth mentioning that the chronological order of the steps specified by the notion of research design helps in achieving the desired research objectives in an effective manner (Gorard, 2013). The application of different inductive and deductive methods helps in analysing problems persistent within a research study, resulting in determining proper relevance of the same. Conversely, the explanatory methods aid in conducting an elaborative research on the data collected and also enhancing the credibility factor. By acquiring an in-depth understanding of the study, different objectives relating to the same could be analysed and a proper relevance is also developed. Furthermore, the evidence based research helps in developing a structured approach of the analysis, resulting in enhancing the credibility of the study. The grounded theory has been used to develop proper anticipation of the different literary evidences and develop a proper anticipation of the study. The compare and contrast of different use of standard health practices of the organisation with the existing norms will help in developing a clear idea of the approach and thus enhance its credibility by a considerable extent (Kothari, 2011). The data collection in relation to this research study, which is mainly concerned about using LEV in drawing welding fumes away from the breathing zones of the welders, has been mainly performed through the use of varied secondary resources and the case studies that are available in support of the present research area. The literary evidences certainly help in developing the quality of the research and enhance the acceptance of the same. The evidence-based approach enhances the acceptance of the data and helps in achieving the desired objectives of the research. The literatures that are available in relation to the specific fields provide standard norms for developing a clear image of the research and helps in attaining the research objectives. The evidences available in the specific fields help in developing different attributes and enhancing the quality of the research (Hex & Beige, 2005). 4. Findings and Discussion Welding is one of the most prominent parts of manufacturing. Mostly, all construction and manufacturing based organisations presently deal with different types of welders. Welding is an important part of manufacturing and thus helps in enhancing the quality of the products being manufactured. Use of welders is even cost effective for the company that are producing different units and manufacturing distinct products. Conversely, the welders are even responsible for the emission of different gases that may not meet the standards of the healthcare requirements of this present day context. The increased level of emissions of toxic gases eventually imposes severe impact on the health and safety needs of the employees at large. In construction sites, welders are used for varied reasons that eventually lead towards causing emissions of different toxic fumes, generating unhealthy atmosphere for the workers (Commonwealth of Australia, 1990). Thus, the construction companies usually tend to develop the standards of health and safety for providing the employees with a stable environment for working. It has been earlier mentioned that the inert gases and the dust particles are certain materials that have immense exposure during the welding process. These materials and other deadly emissions of different gases often make the workers to face breathing difficulties. In terms of determining the practicing methods during the welding process, it can be found that the workers who are working in the welding areas are provided with masks that prevent them from direct exposure to various gases that are emitted at the time of welding. However, there are certain dust particles and gases that stay in the surrounding atmosphere for longer durations. This further affects the development of a healthy environment. It is in this context that the use of LEV can remove the gases from the breathing areas and can develop a healthier environment for the workers. Furthermore, the heat that is generated during the time of welding often creates a backlog for the employees and compels them to open their safety masks. In lieu of determining the mistakes that perform by the workers, it can be affirmed that this minimum duration of exposure has even recorded situations of high risks such as respiratory blockages and other breathing ailments. Hence, LEV must be used to remove the different dangerous and toxic gases from the air and prevent the workers from such severity (Crown, 2009; Commonwealth of Australia, 1990). Welding and other hazardous materials that emit during construction often create both short and long-term impact on the life of the employees operating in the areas. The effects are often visible during short-term level or during their long-term course of life. The use of various hazardous substances during construction eventually enhances the quality of the works. The inert gases that emit during welding can lead to choking of employees. The oxygen masks and other props are used during welding as a support to provide the employees with an effective lifestyle. Furthermore, there are very few amounts of precautions that are taken at the time of welding for the people who are working under exposed environment (Department of Labour, n.d.). Thus, it will be vital to mention in this regard that the better use of LEV will certainly help in carrying away the dusts and other toxic fumes from the areas of breathing and provide the employees with a healthy environment to work (Martikainen & Kah, 2011). Use of LEV even creates a proper support to remove the shielding gases and make the employees to breadth easily. To maintain the health and safety needs of the employees at the occupational level, the use of LEV is likely to increase the quality of healthcare and enhance the efficiency of the work perform by the personnel. Identification of risks is regarded as one of the prerequisites for developing a proper approach of developing safety measures within an organisation (Crown, 2009). The use of LEV helps in enhancing the removal of chemical fumes that may create an effect on the health of the employees operating under the existing exposed conditions. It can be apparently observed that the increased level of toxic emissions of the gases produced during the time of welding often creates suffocation amongst the employees and thus lowers their quality of life at large (Health and Safety Executive, 2008). Specially mentioning, with the use of LEV, the inert gases could be removed effectively and enhance the work environment of the organisation. The use of proper LEV will help in reducing the chances of the welding materials such as the emission of the small metal particles are likely to affect the breathing ability of the employees and affect their health needs. The use of LEV will also increase the efficiency of the workers and develop a strategic plan for ensuring the conduct of effective health practices at work (Budhathoki & et. al., 2014). Employees working in different welding areas are exposed even to the unwanted gases that create a huge impact on their lifecycle. The effect on the respiratory system could be reduced and enhance the safety requirement at the workplace by effective usage of LEV. The use of LEV is observed to be reducing different emissions of the toxic fumes and thus creates a healthier environment to breathe (BOC, 2014). The removal of toxic fumes by the use of LEV in addition to the use of other supportive props is likely to standardise the internal environment of the welding areas. This is further tested that the same will reduce the instances of exposure and prevents the work life of the employees from getting affected. The health effects on the employees are likely to be reduced by the use of LEV with following the above stated procedures. Thus, it can be inferred that the use of LEV will create a positive impact on the work environment, which is presently prevalent in the organisation considered for this study and develop the credibility of the employees to work efficiently (Division of Workers’ Compensation, 2006). 5. Conclusion Based on the above analysis and discussion, it can be ascertained that the use of LEV is mandatory for the organisations, as this helps in enhancing operational efficiency and also the credibility of the employees to perform better. This is even noted that the organisations are enhancing their ability to perform and developing their sustainability by increasing the health needs of the employees. With the development of different attributes related to the health environment, the company considered for the study would be developing its responsibility towards its employees. By enhancing the safety needs that are to be maintained while performing a hazardous job, the company will even develop its entity as a responsible employer. As the company is dealing with varied hazardous elements being operating in construction sector, the need for maintaining proper safety and health needs is mandatory. The environmental analysis must be conducted effectively to develop a proper work environment. The development of safety and health at the workplace would eventually build positive work environment and enhance the operational performance of the employees. This is in turn, will aid the company to improve profitability as well as ensure sustainability in long run. With the development of a proper work environment and by meeting the safety needs of the employees in terms of using LEV effectively, it is projected that the organisation will be able to draw welding fumes away from the breathing zones of the welders. This practice is eventually going to enhance the work life of the employees and provide them with a healthy and sustainable workplace. 6. Recommendations Development of LEV in the welding areas will create a phenomenon of removing the toxic gases and other components from the working areas. This would prevent the toxic gases from creating long as well as short-term effects on the life of the workers. Furthermore, use of LEV would increase the removal of different inert gases that emits at the time of welding, resulting in affecting the lifecycle of the employees during the operational process. Thus, in this regard, the exposure to the hazardous gases and elements must be reduced to enhance the environmental conditions of the workplace and develop a positive and safe environment to operate. With the use of LEV, it is projected that the different toxic fumes can be removed from the workplace and offer an additional support to the employees for working effectively. Effective implementation of LEV will certainly create positive impacts on the life of the employees by effectively carrying away the dust particles and other harmful elements from the breathing zone of the welders. This will certainly enhance the work environment of the company by preventing contamination of different air borne diseases and even generating a quality environment at workplace. The maximum effectiveness of LEV could be assured by the implementation of the same at the source wherein the harmful dust or gas generates. By lessening the flow of airborne contaminated diseases, the health of the employees could be enhanced and development of a proper work environment could be ensured. The implementation of LEV for drawing away the toxic fumes from the welders will effectively change the OSH practices of the company and develop the same. In turn, it would enhance the ability of the organisation to perform and enhance its entity as a responsible individual. Furthermore, the health and safety executives (HSE) would be provided with a detailed outline about the level of OSH measures. This will certainly enhance the well-being of the employees and develop the operational environment by a considerable level. The company considered for the study operating in the construction areas must ensure complying with the safety needs of the employees, as it operates its business with the inclusion of huge figure of hazardous elements. The development in the health needs is mandatory to enhance the image of the organisation. By providing a healthy environment, the company will be able to enhance its business image and accordingly strengthen its sustainable domain from long-term perspective. Thus, by satisfying the health needs of the employees in terms of using LEV effectively, the organisation will be able to ensure long-term commitment from its employees and thus reap several significant benefits in future. 7. References Anderson, M. No Date. Behavioural Safety and Major Accident Hazards: Magic Bullet or Shot In The Dark? Health and Safety Executive, pp. 1-14. Ashby, H. S., 2002. Welding Fume in the Workplace. Professional Safety, pp. 55-60. Budhathoki, S. S. & et. al., 2014. Awareness of Occupational Hazards and Use of Safety Measures among Welders: A Cross-Sectional Study from Eastern Nepal. BMJ Open, Vol. 4, No. 6, pp. 1-6. BOC, 2014. Shielding Gas. Product Information. [Online] Available at: http://www.boconline.co.uk/internet.lg.lg.gbr/en/images/shielding-gas-brochure410_80125.pdf [Accessed December 11, 2014]. Creswell, J. W., 2013. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. SAGE Publications. Commonwealth of Australia, 1990. Welding: Fumes and Gases. National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, pp. 1-32. Crown, 2009. Effective Control Of Gas Shielded Arc Welding Fume. Health and Safety Executive, pp. 1-100. Crown, 2002. Strategies to Promote Safe Behaviour as Part of a Health and Safety Management System. Research. 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A Review of the Literature on Effective Leadership Behaviours for Safety. Health and Safety Executive, pp. 1-88. Martikainen, J. & Kah, P., 2011. Current Trends in Welding Processes And Materials: Improve In Effectiveness. Rev. Adv. Mater, Sci, Vol. 30, pp. 1-12. 8. Bibliography Acton, A., 2013. Issues in Orthopedics and Occupational and Sports Medicine: 2013 Edition. ScholarlyEditions. Hughes, P. & Ferrett, E., 2011. Introduction to Health and Safety at Work: The Handbook for the Nebosh National General Certificate. Elsevier. ILO, 2009. ILO Standards on Occupational Safety and Health: Promoting a Safe and Healthy Working Environment. International Labour Office. 10. Appendices Graph 1: Lung Tumor Multiplicity Due to Exposure of the Gases (Source: Erdely & et. al., 2013) Table 1: Exposure Limits Source: (Ashby, 2002) Read More