Should Welding Workshops Have Fume Extraction? What the HSE Expects
- Nexus Examination
- Jun 26
- 3 min read
Welding fume can look like a minor nuisance, the sort of thing a fan in the corner will deal with. It is not. It is now a recognised cause of cancer, and the rules around controlling it changed sharply in 2019. Here is whether your welding workshop needs fume extraction, why, and what actually counts as adequate.
Should Welding Workshops Have Fume Extraction?
Yes. Since 2019, the HSE has required suitable fume extraction, usually local exhaust ventilation (LEV), for all indoor welding, regardless of the metal being welded or how long the job takes. Welding fume is a recognised carcinogen, and general workshop ventilation is no longer accepted as adequate control.
This is not optional, and it is not limited to big jobs. We carry out LEV examinations across Berkshire and the surrounding counties, and welding extraction is one of the systems businesses most often have wrong, or missing entirely.
Why Welding Fume Is So Dangerous
In 2019, following evidence from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, mild steel welding fume was reclassified as a human carcinogen. That triggered an HSE safety alert strengthening enforcement for all welding fume, including mild steel.
The risks are serious and varied. Welding fume can cause lung cancer and possibly kidney cancer. The manganese in mild steel fume can cause neurological effects similar to Parkinson's disease. Stainless steel produces hexavalent chromium and nickel, linked to cancer and asthma, and galvanised steel can cause metal fume fever. Crucially, the HSE position is that there is no known safe level of exposure.
What the HSE Requires
The 2019 change was about enforcement, not new law, but the effect is the same. In practice, a welding workshop needs to make sure that:
Suitable engineering controls, usually LEV, are in place for all indoor welding
Controls are provided for every welding task, regardless of duration
RPE is used where LEV alone does not control exposure, and for outdoor welding
A COSHH risk assessment covers the materials, processes and people involved
The LEV is correctly used, properly maintained, and tested
Welders are trained to use the controls correctly
Welding fume sits under COSHH and the Health and Safety at Work Act, and HSE inspectors will issue enforcement notices where they find welding going on without adequate control.
What Counts as Suitable Extraction
This is where a lot of workshops fall short. A general extractor fan moving air around the building is not fume extraction. The control has to capture the fume at or near the arc, before it reaches the welder's breathing zone.
That usually means on-torch extraction, a capture hood, or an extracted bench, positioned for the actual work. A proper welding fume extraction system is designed around the process, the workspace and the welder, not just bolted to a wall and forgotten.
Your Extraction Must Be Tested
Fitting LEV is only the start. Because it is a control for a hazardous substance, it has to be thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months under COSHH, by a competent person, with the results recorded.
In our experience, plenty of workshops install extraction and then never test it, which leaves them exposed on two fronts: the system may have quietly stopped working, and they have no record to show an inspector or insurer.
The Bottom Line
A welding workshop should have fume extraction. Since 2019 that is the clear expectation, and for indoor welding it is effectively non-negotiable.
The honest way to look at it is that the extraction protects your welders from an illness that may not show up for years, and protects your business from enforcement in the meantime. Get it fitted properly, make sure it is used, and keep it tested. Our thorough examination services cover the testing side, but the system has to be there in the first place.
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