Engineering components provider BMG’s tools and equipment division has introduced a range of specialist products, systems and services to assist the welding industry in creating a healthy and safe work environment.

This is in an effort to reduce the risks associated with welding and cutting fumes, grinding dust and oil mist.

Global industry has instituted new legislation – even in agriculture – to protect workers from the harmful effects of welding, says BMG Tools and Equipment division business unit manager Andrew Johns.

BMG believes that local businesses need to be more cognisant about the hazards of welding fumes and how important it is to protect workers’ health through the extraction and control of welding fumes, he notes.

“Airborne welding fumes – a mixture of metal fumes and gases produced during welding operations – are harmful to workers. Toxic welding fumes can contain a mixture of manganese, hexavalent chromium, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and ozone, which cause serious short- and long-term health problems.”

In line with its commitment to keep abreast of global trends, BMG ensures that its customer base has access to the latest equipment and advanced technologies in all sectors.

Johns points out that through its broad product portfolio and technical solutions service, BMG plays “a critical role” in local industry to ensure a cleaner, safer and healthier workplace.

As such, the process of ensuring clean air in the work environment involves various phases, from analysis and design to supply, installation, commissioning and ongoing support.

“Our welding products and services are tailored to meet specific customer requirements and encompass source extraction, personal protection equipment (PPE), general filtration and extraction hoods.

“International standards for the preferred order in which welding fumes should be captured are, firstly, source extraction, which contributes significantly to a better work environment,” he explains.

The next step is the provision of adequate PPE, followed by the separation of source and worker by automation, for example, through extraction hoods. The general filtration and ventilation systems are also critical in keeping the concentration of welding fumes within legal limits, according to international guidelines, says Johns.

“The most effective —solution for a cleaner workshop is normally a combination of all these methods.”

BMG’s Plymovent solutions for source extraction include portable fans, fume extractors and extraction hoses, as well as mobile and stationary welding fume filter units with integrated fans.

The range also includes filtration systems, modular extraction hoods, fire safety solutions and oil mist filters. A specially designed workbench provides extraction and filtration for welding and grinding applications.

Further, the company’s specialists believe that source extraction is the most effective method of capturing and removing welding fumes directly from the breathing zone of the worker.

BMG’s MobilePro range is a mobile self-cleaning fume extractor designed to remove welding fumes on site in spaces that are difficult to reach if fixed welding fume extraction systems are used.

Additionally, the range comprises a PHV filter unit – a compact, portable unit – which is particularly well-suited to the extraction of welding fumes at source during maintenance and moderate welding applications.

This unit is fitted with two motors to ensure effective extraction while using nozzles or extraction through the welding torch. A high-efficiency particulate air filter ensures high filtration efficiency and also makes the PHV unit suitable for stainless steel welding fume applications.

Meanwhile, the company’s Plymovent PPE PersonalPro range includes helmets to protect the eyes, face and head during manual welding, cutting and grinding. These versatile auto-darkening welding helmets, with an extended side vision, provide improved visibility, comfort and safety.

An integrated lightweight powered air-purifying respiratory (PAPR) unit provides protection against eye and facial injuries, and prevents respiratory problems.

The PAPR unit blows clean air into the helmet, allowing the worker to weld and grind while breathing purified air through a particulate filter. This system offers the choice of two air-flows, with automatic clogged filter and low battery’ alarms for additional safety.

Moreover, BMG also offers Translas plug-and-play ClearO2 systems for the extraction and filtration of fumes from welding processes, micro dust, vapours and odours.

The range includes extraction torches with various nozzles for the safe removal of welding fumes at source. Portable extraction units are used in conjunction with fume extractor torches and are suitable for use by individual and multiple welders in high-production welding environments. ClearO2 high-vacuum units, with an automatic cleaning function through reverse compressed-air pulse, offer quiet and efficient operation.

BMG’s extensive branch network nationwide also stocks a wide range of inverter welders, accessories, electrodes, welding wire and PPE, designed to enhance safety and optimise productivity in all sectors where metal working is required.