It was so long ago, as NIOSH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (NIOSH is the United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness.) published a Criteria Document “NIOSH Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Thermal Cutting,” in 1988, recommending that “exposures to all thermal cutting emissions be reduced to the lowest feasible concentrations using state-of-the-art engineering controls and work practices”. NIOSH had also recommended exposure limits, at that times.
Now in 2019, the thermal cutting process is so wide-spread in the metal working & processing industries that more and more regulations and standards are published about the necessary safety requirements for thermal cutting machines.
The “phrase: thermal cutting process” stands for “cutting process that uses heat of different sources to melt or oxidize the material and a high speed jet to remove the liquid material”. In the scope of this article, VANTERM uses “thermal cutting process” to indicate the dry plasma cutting, laser cutting and also oxy-fuel cutting.
In one of the recent published ISO and also EN Standard: so-called EN ISO 17916:2016 Safety of Thermal Cutting Machines, it is explained in details all the safety requirements and protective measures, concerning about the thermal cutting machines.
According to this standard, the gases, dust particles and fumes that are generated by the thermal cutting processes are hazardous and protective measures must be taken, to ensure operator safety. It is also underlined in this standard that an effective capturing/extraction of the dust, gases and fumes at the source is a must for the operator safety.
Exactly within this scope, it is also important to mention that an extraction unit or so-called a filter unit or a dust collector, which is allowed to be used together with a thermal cutting machine, must conform with the EN ISO 15012-4 Standard as well.
The EN ISO 17916:2016 Safety of Thermal Cutting Machines standard sets the following basic rule:
“The design of the equipment for capture and separation of fume/dust shall be in accordance with ISO 15012-4.”
When all these standards and regulations are considered together, it is obviously seen that the thermal cutting machine (i.e. plasma or laser cutting) users must carefully choose the right dust collector – right filter unit that meets all these safety demands and requirements. This will prevent the machine operators from any potential health hazards and risks.
What does VANTERM recommend to meet all these safety demands regarding your thermal cutting machine?
VANTERM offers filtration solutions that meets all these challenging demands for your thermal cutting processes. Whether you need a dust collector for your laser cutting machine or your plasma cutting machine, we have the right solution for you.
We are able to offer filter units for any thermal cutting application, with required international certifications.
More about related solutions, please contact us or our distributor near you. We will be happy to advise you regarding our extraction solutions for your plasma or laser cutting machines.
VANTERM: Passion for excellence in Clean Air Solutions.
