Those unions which are now monitoring the causes of ill-health amongst their members are to be commended

Tony Burke, the president of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, which involves Unite, GMB, Community and Prospect, reports that welding fumes are shown to cause cancers — and the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU), along with the Alex Ferry Foundation, a charity linked to the CSEU, has launched the Breathe Safe campaign to raise awareness.

CSEU general secretary Ian Waddell said: “We believe that the numbers of welders diagnosed with these conditions is the tip of the iceberg. We want welders, retired workers and also their families to understand what the symptoms look like so they can take immediate action.”

Four years ago, the Health and Safety Executive issued a safety alert about the link between mild steel welding fume and cancer: “Many studies report increased risk of lung cancer in welders or other workers exposed to welding fumes. The International Association for Research on Cancer concludes that all welding fume can cause lung cancer and may cause kidney cancer, classifying all welding fume as Group 1 carcinogenic substances.”

A welder at work in Bosch Thermotechnology in Chesterfield

The Breathe Safe campaign — funded by the CSEU and the Alex Ferry Foundation, named after a former CSEU general secretary — is working with the all-party parliamentary group on respiratory disease.

It recommends anyone exposed to welding fume in transport repair, construction and machinery manufacturing see their doctor for regular check-ups and employers to offer annual health checks and provide proper ventilation equipment.

Those unions which now monitor the causes of ill-health amongst their members are to be commended. 20 years ago a power engineer died of the most serious form of brain tumour but when his widow asked his union (now amalgamated with Prospect) if they recorded the causes of death amongst their members, they said that they did not. With hindsight she wishes she had taken this apparent negligence further, to help others in the profession.

 

 

 

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